Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
' '
T)^*^ "J
'
v*^"'/"',':
i.e^a^
(^,
/9-ifUiAO
^.^^^0^-^/f^/
VOL.
I.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Strange Houses of Sleep, 1906. A Book of Mystery and Vision, 1902. LucASTA Parables and Poems, 1889 A Soul's Comedy, 1887.
:
Photo
l>y
v.
A. SwAiNE]
TWO VOLUMES
jr
VOLUME
^u
eg
Ftta
mi\}i
mt'fjf
Itti
et
Uerbum
Fitse,
eug meus.
gana ona
(ITui.
sum
ego.
Spiritus
terra
et
terra
terra
inbt'a,
inaquosa,
florebunt
mgsteri'a
STua
pronuntiabo,
amnia. DE
TABERNACULO
MYSTICO LIBELLUS
WITH A PORTRAIT
SON, LIMITED
MDCCCCXIV
Printed by
Pallantyne, Hanson
fr"
Co.
Edinburgh
Yr-3 K\i
';n\A
CONTENTS
VOL.
Portrait of the Author
I
Frontispiece
When the
of election begins to realise that he is normally in a dreaming state and that he must he aroused to attain himselj^
man
he
is
forthwith impelled
to
his sleeps the greater and lesser also, with the manifestations thereto belonging, and it is in this manner that he becomes dedicated to the interpretation of his dreams.
Herein therefore
is the general thesis of the dream-life, certain vestiges, which are memories, of all that including which is without it. It is in this way that man awakens
the first sense of the quest. Being thus already in part he puts in order several plans for the improveilluminated, ment of his symbolical position. He beholds indeed the
to
first
life, through which the become to him even as fountains of of sleep may refreshment, and his environment as a Promise of May. There is torpor and there is inhibition, hut there are also suggestions of states that have rewards beyond the dreams One is in effect already a Postulant at the of avarice. Pronaos of the Temple. B. Lesser Lights and Broideries of the Veil. When man takes thought of Nature and her sacramental service, he may discover after what manner some strange Herein is the consideration in full suspensions operate.
shining
of the sacramental
rivers
7371.89
ways
are
The of simple Nature is made evident. been tried, hut therein is no satisfaction. have
normal
Where
Amid such preludes and of Healing ? the world which leads to nothing ; in the realm pastorals of of fragilities and the Trivia ; we meet with certain mercies
the
Wings
and judgments and become neophytes of the Lesser Mysteries, which are as Instructions in Early Alphabets for some who <are learning to read. They are also forms of dejection and
yet of illumination.
Man
is
also visited
by the first pontificals of Dream passing into Vision through the mediation of Love and the offices of daughters enters, of desire, even as by the Spirit and the Bride.
Human
He
therefore,
another manner, into the essence of the sacramental system, which determines true inferences on
after
validity
and quest. These are Mysteries of Seeking, Mirrors of Knighthood, the first Elevation of the Host in the Church Visible of the natural world, the first conscious-
ness of Presences. They are also certain Legends of The Rosary is here recited in a the way of the Cross. loud voice after new Matins, with the Little Office of the
Many
Virgo Intacta.
But
of the Great Mystery. We pass through grades and ministries of the world's legends, which
D. Legends
ure fables of sleeping men, stories of lights that fail, yet in their manner ceremonies of initiation ; the philosophy of
sleep
stated;
:
the
ending
These are hauntings of the places of quest phantoms of vision ; and in this grade man is the Master of Ceremonies, rather than a Master Here also are Legends of the Soul and certain of the House.
"
mysteries
of expiation
and
dejection,
man of election is in fine visited by the high ministries of doctrine, pearls of the Dreamer^s Faith ; the music of many spheres sounds
him
to
The
the advance.
He
is
Contents
He is conscious of a greatness and, bitterness of the quest. cloud of witnesses. He becomes Keefer of the Lesser
Mysteries.
The Work
of our Hands
of the
.....
Life.
. .
PAGE
Ground-Plan
Alternation
........
to
House of
An
excuse
The Second
Sense
to
An
Instruction
Neophytes.
....
.
Lesser Ecstasy.
.
.
.10
.12
13
in Silence
An
Interlude of Dream.
A frofer
time of ascent
is
here
and
now.,
but
it is
also hereafter.
Of True and
False Marriages
....
14
Great Silences
I^he ends are not less certain because they are
16
Viaticum
.........
the
17
Hallow for
House of
vii
Loss.
Hemlock
The
'path of Poisoned Flowers
is also
i8
a true path.
But
At the End
from
of Things
.....
jarest.
20
The Voice
22
The great
At that Door
^ome houses are
the
23
i^ihibited because the place both suffer misconstruction.
and
way
IllLUMI NATION
2A
An Aurea Catena
Hermetica.
27
A Dream
A
Free
of June
Shadows of Roses.
Way
29
cover us.
Of Wings which
Seasons
.........
also are
30
Night Piece
The Landmarks
Watchers.
31
31
is
Hallows
viii
in the need of
our enchantment.
Conte7^ts
Loss AND Gain
In any Garden
'This also is
PAGE
32
33
not
34
The
King's Secret
-35
35
36
of Charity is also that of the Union.
Law
37
Dreams of Death
Of
one
Worlds of Dream
Of Pageant and
...... ......
yet testifies in dream.
38
40
Reality.
41
How
it
.....
43
More than
journey.
A Grey World
Beyond
the
Burdens of Babylon
Loss
is
the All.
Onward
That which
Gabriel
Ladder of Life
Of going up
Seven Watchers
The world
Looking Westward
The place
possible.
PAGE
45
47
49
is
^^
is
not so
much
49
An
52
to
the
Heart
of the King.
54
57
of the heights
is
that which
is
always
Man
Of the Deep
Seas
..... ......
it is
57
59
Mysteries of Sorrow.
The Wider
Of
Prospects
61
Joys of Life
.......
to
Conte7its
PAGE
63
Many
The
things turn
ashes before
Waters of Creation
outside world does not communicate 'peace
The Palace
The
of Life
of
sleep
man
somnambulism.
The
Secret Garden
But
from
all.
hidden path of
Rite of Exaltation
There
is
it.
64
not
without
certain
68
68
the
Temple
is
the most
70
to
the
Holy Palace.
72
Play-Scenes
The
Absolution
The word
the Gospel.
Veils of
Isis
But Nature
Insufficiency
72
word
i7i
chief of
75
75
Confidence
Gifts of pro-phecy are of events which are certain beforehand^ and, these the soul knows.
76
How IT
IS
jj
Nature also opens upon the Great Mystery, which is for this reason that all keys are
within
us.
Plumes of Sable
But
in the end the light comes into the secret world, and the secret world shall know of it.
7^
The Interlocutory
Discourse
it 07i
....
to
80
is
Grounds of Union
//
it
83
this
were possible for God to be absent, would mean that the heart grew fonder.
Theophany
85
it is
hut this
is also
in
Of Faith and
The apology
Vision
of those
87
who
see nothing.
The Path
It
is
88
is
that
Divine Union.
V AJ^X/
90
XII
Contents
VISION
93
as one
who
sight recently.
He
looks in
a glass
darkly, discerning things inverted and out of their true froportiofi, but he is among the substances of the new order
a?td is indeed
renewed in
light.
of life
and
adapted
PART
encompassed by sacraments and parables, and Nature is not beyond his mastery. The universe expands with his growth and marks the Man''s destiny is to comprehend limits of his advance. Nature. Other orders of sacramentalism may await him beyond these present veils, and he has no doubt been a There is an inner as zuell recipient of prior ministries. When man as an outer world, and our true goal is within. has received all the sacraments of the universe, that zuhich is without will have become as that which is within, and the depth and the height will meet at the centre of his
is
Man
rest.
But
Divine manifest
within man.
....
is
99
The multitude of external quests and voyages of which we read in history^ which are witnessed also, and daily, in so many circles, impelled by so many designs, might occasion of wonder, seeing that a much simpler offer an
and more requiting mode of travel But the stimulus of such wonder few only who have taken out the
within our reach. individual to the roots of their nature
is
us. from the earth of those interests which are about The external quests are part of the ever-present hindThe way of the inward life is rances of daily life. the one true way of quest, and could we be liberated from the compulsory contracts into which we have been drawn by our first education., this fact would emerge It is now a longer journey on account of these ; clearly. embark with difficulty, sail perforce slowly and know we At the same time, the beacons not whither we are going. and we set forth amidst the subdued start up everywhere,
TRANSCRIPTS
loi
There is no such thing as common life ; the conventio7i under which we regard it is alone common. The key of the great mysteries lies hidden in all things round us, but
the perplexities of the convention hinder us
The
gift
of understanding
is
within
us,
read the
worWs language if we dared, but the inherited averseness of all the centuries to a first-hand experience The on the attempt. of things sets an effectual check
inclination of the axis of the soul places us outside the direct line of vision ; that inclination can be rectified,
essentially
difficult,
but
it
Contents
ECSTASIES
103
The instruction of the teaching church of Nature offers a substantial intellectual guarantee 7iot alone for some of the conceded aspirations, but also for those which most persons in the present social order must imply rather than
Any aspect of Nature proexpress through all their life. It vides this instruction and comprehends this warrant.
the unceasing grind and jar of the social mechanism which blunts the hearing and darkeiis or embarrasses the
is
evidence.
WINGS OF FIRE
in
its
106
The sacramental life of Nature is often so encouraging aspects, that we are inclined to regard it as the only
which separates us from the Divine. And yet there are other of its aspects which hint at unknown forms of sacramentalism behind it, some of which interpe7ietrate our
veil
There are indications also own, at least intermittently. the interference of lower sacramental orders quite disof tinct from the presence of moral evil in the world. While it is the souV s end to rise above all the cosmic systems, it may be doubted whether this is attainable except through the pomp and adornment of several sacramental lives.
What follows
to
is
be dissolved.
far away
in the tropics of the physical world, so in certain torrid zones of supersensual thought.
as
therefore the expression of the souVs desire Things that look near are sometimes very
108
of eternity, within the measures of our comprehension. holds also in the order of the instituted sacraments.
This
One
XV
of the most endearing remembrances which must follow us in the mystic life, often so far removed from all instituted ceremo?iial and all stipulated system, is the recognition of
It is imcommunicate substantially to they possible deny many believers, and there can be no grade of spiritual ascent from which the Church and her ministry will not be regarded with loving tenderness, or the attempt to restrict that ministry, and to despoil the instituted sacraments,
that
HOUSE FANTASTIC
109
Certain sources of imperfection are traceable in the minSome bear the marks istry of which man is the recipient. The instruments of inherence and some of introduction. of communication from the noumenal must, in the nature of things, fall short of that Absolute which it would impart, and hence we should not sin against the light by holding that the instrument may improve. We at least are not prothereto. It may even he that the leader perly adjusted of the sacramental universe rectifies continually, and thus leads us, in the symbolic language of the poem, into a
perfect harmony.
.113
the most saving great that in a certain sense we ministry of all, might be exempted from the continued regard of all others. Herein is the whole mystery of love, and the sweet reason
is
except in the universal mode of his intelligence that is to say, in the Divine Union. How far or how near this may rest
For the rest, it would seem impossible of the inward way. that man should ever become intelligible to himself
life
we cannot
xvi
Contents
nS
of the saintly men of old, the attract us magnetically, and yet mystics of all the creeds^ It would seem that the light of glory which fail to satisfy. but is also they communicate is not actually the first light, as a garden derived. They shew forth certain transfigurations,
shews forth in the moonlight, when there are eyes to see. But in the last resource the garden is not large enough for the sense of deficiency man, nor the Imitatio /or his soul. some travellers in the high and restriction is experienced by Alps, and so also there is a sense of arrested experience in the records of those spiritual travellers who have returned from the secret Carmel. They have not e?icompassed the whole man in their pilgrimage. An omnipresent manhood It is not the dust of dead nations that we press fills Nature. beneath our feet, but the potentiality of the living humanities which supports us. The broken branch can cry out like the wounded man, and by the eyes of many animals we know that their root is in our root, that they also are led by a
sacramental ministry, and that, like us, they will be brought Man has a special ministry of forth in their due time. the sacraments to some of these lesser brethren, and there is more than one sense in which we are saviours of men, since man is universal in Nature.
IN
THOSE HEIGHTS
The
ii8
sense of loneliness which is inseparable from the great quests of the soul is to some extent illusory, or is at least initial. Many watchers protect us from every side.
But it is the fear of this isolation which has often hindered and betrayed the high experiments. The inward world might not be less known at this day than the world without, which we have taken such pains to extend by our explorVOL.
I.
xvii
A
ations,
by the dread
Other impediments have been of uncom-panioned research. mentioned. The seven senses of mystic Nature should not
be understood according to the convention of fiumbers, for it is economical in the same way that the sacraments of
the Church are an ecoriomy, summarising the kind of ministry which goes with man in his journey.
121
Many
witness
to
records of Eucharistic grace and vision bear the true inwardness of the experience mentioned
What
the Vision is
and why
answered simply. It is The rest is of that to an Eternal Presence within itself. kind which is at the source of activity^ namely., the rest of certain recognition of the state., which is like the centre. a land that is very far away, may be attained by removing
from and
the mind the conception of location or erivironment, of time., by presenting to ourselves, as ourselves, the simple notion of activity functioning by an inherent
necessity.
is
The
vehicle
an intense
light,
tension
may
be lost
of this sacramental experience heat and rapture. The sense of exin a very curious manner by those
who are sufficiently self-instructed to make the picture inward and not objective to the mind's eye, as the mind will invariably do with a fatal facility unless there
is
to
126
Following from what has been said, one may even dare among all the sacraments of Nature, that which most shews forth the source and term of the soul is the pageant
hint that
xviii
Contents
rest
It brings with it a recognition of of a vortex of flame. and attainment^ of delight at the heart of dread., which the forces of the u?iiverse. is offered by no other symbol among be taken., from its inte?itness, to be This
recogfiition may close at the roots of all ex'perience.
very
HOW
128
The
tainable
is
and obvious
the most boundless., most catholic, most ascerof all the natural sacraments., and it
from
in this sense that they are said in the -poem to originate and return to it. Unlike fire., it does not convey a
rest.,
sense of
but rather one of action unfinished., and it is For here typified as the course of all our quest. therefore the same reason it is the most eloquent of all the sacraments, and that which most nearly touches on the translatable
state.
It does not seem impossible that a great poet might up among us on a day with the sea's rendering. The least of us can gather something at its margin.
rise
133
There should be no need to say that the sacraments are Their explanation is the ministrant and not explanatory. call of the prophet, who is also the poet, and, as said formerly,
no elucidation can be more than experimental and approxiIt is mate. In the last resource the mystery always rests. the same with the dark or averse sacraments, the ministry And this is why faith is the most abiding seal of evil.
There is a very real sense of man's life in the universe. in which the whole life of man is a recurring act of faith, by and in which he is alive. The warrant of faith is in
experience, and although this kind of testimony is also recurrent incessafitly in the diurnal life of the ages, it has vast fields of untried investigation, some of which have been
entered partly, as
we know by
xix
PART
OF THINGS
II
has dwelt in
man has worshipped at many shrines and many gardens of being. We hear within us the
perpetuated memories oj several natures from which we have emerged successively. We were doubtless in exile then and we are now in exile. But whence we came first., in so far a
past.,
we stood in no need of education^ and we are here as are now the last sequence of events in a long series. by under the yoke of education for no other reason than our
We
return.
We
lessons.,
143
man
is like
a product of sorcery.
External things are communicated to us by virtue of their adjustment with the faculties which express us in just that measure., and possessing that correspondence between the appearance and the reality., which suggests the idea of
The magic, and herein is the mystery of all the sacraments. the Magic of Nature ijito the Divine Magic transformation of This transformation takes place in is the great secret. virtue of another adjustment between the mind quickened by a saving light and the external ministry., which thus becomes sacramental. By yielding implicitly to the enchantment of the first sense of Nature., we condone our exile and abide in a continued illusion, though no doubt it remains benevolent and offers a delectable ministry. Such enchant-
ment
XX
Contents
INCENSE
is
147
the instituted
Nature really sorcery of the conventio7is of human life. her secret at all points, and the unknown surges in opens up
through the fissures, but intermittently, because, howsoever our restriction has been brought about, we are not intended The occasional contact with this as yet to escape from it. unknown, which has its physical evidences, is salutary as an
assurance of the impermanence of the present sacramental order ; hut our cortex of convention has so addicted us to what can be discerned through it, and has so encompassed us
with a reputed and artificial knowledge, that it is seldom, and as if by accident, that we obtaiii the brief experiences which are otherwise possible. Convention necessitates convention, and we attain experience now more readily by an
instituted process.
151
that
good on a time
for the sacramentalist to renounce all interpretation, and enjoy for a little the beauty and melody of the outward
signs.
152
and
led,
hut
to
this
strenuous activity
necessary if passive condition must be added a in the maintenance of the souV s life.
we
tongues of men and angels, all power in signs and miracles, all missions and high destinies are surely, apart from this, but the pomp and pride of the outward life, and
The
xxi
in the end- they must jail us. Divorced from these higher even the simple love of personal independence co7isiderations^ is an error of enthusiasm^ a?id the toil which secures it is
but arrogance. To keep one^s soul alive is better than to that were possible, by an act of objective vision. see God, if
A PORTION OF MY INHERITANCE
and among
157
All highest things appear unpractical to the lesser man, others the intimations of sacramental life. They are passed over, therefore, by those who regard the admitted business of existence as of the only moment. That business is Even the material welfare of natioris of no moment in itself. is of no consequence apart from eternity : nations must pass. These are hard words to the outward sense. So also when Faith, Hope and the higher Charity call forth a soul, this great election is to simple sense a matter of dole and delusion. It is the result of a bewrayment, as when fairies call forth a maiden to follow some unending quest. few obey the call
indirectly, and, perhaps, outside all expectations, on one great day of the world, those whom these ways have divided
will
earth in a
sleep of sunshine.
LA VIE INTIME
Far beneath
161
legend, and they penetrate sometimes into the sub-conscious hi trtith we know not all that we abysses of the soul, have passed upon our way, or what mutations are possible
Legend says that the sex of a body is changed by under the rainbow. The soul in her fantasy underpassing and strange gateways of existence goes many metamorphoses, The sense of these experiences and their open before her. memory are perpetuated in terrible prehistoric myths. Over the border-line constituted by the convention or adjustment between man and external things, two worlds seem to stretch
to us.
xxii
Contents
which the mind, differentiates most easily by the ideas of upward and downward^ but both are really within us. There is a way within the soul by steep paths ifito the Divine Union ; it might be further than the stars if it were a There is journey made in space but it is there. a way within the soul to a phantasmal under world which
puts on
many
it.
partake
may
lie
in
vestures of the life of sense., but does not really The source of many physical aberrations these stagnant tarns and still pools of our
still
make
possible
many
unsanctified
171
A
Among
Transcript
the veiled memories of the soul two kinds are One is of the souVs participation imperfectly distinguished. in the universal life., as when., like beads and sparkles.,
of water., there may rise upon the our consciousness strange sensations of kinship surface of with clouds, birds, the sunlight on a golden vane, and the soul says unto itself : These also have I been. But it is
welling up
from deeps
really
a fictitious impression which mistakes the present The true kinship of all being for psychological identity. is more awakened, among external objects, memory usually
by the opening of vast distances, and the soul knows thereby how far she has travelled ; she knows also the vast dista?ices that are within her ; she knows, amidst the twilight of our life, that once the King-Spirit dwelt within her, till the
great wars and devastations began, and how then the King went forth. Yet he returns surely to enlighten the city the soul. She dreams even that he tarries in the engirding of
moves slowly through the outskirts But the suburbs of the city of man. places of she looks certainly for his entrance.
secret lands, or that he
and mean
xxiii
The Quest of
the
Goldeti
Gate
178
HOW
we
passed away for purity and loveliness ; and the way of recovery is often hard and dolorous, haunted by a sense of misery which is for us in its realisation greater than the dereliction of Judas
too ardently -pursuing the life of outward sense lose consciousness of spiritual life, something has in a real manner from us which is beyond all price
When
want of Lucifer. Yet the sense of loss is the pledge of recovery, and the soul returns into her heritage, as a priest passing into a temple, and saves all her generaor the timeless
tions
and
us,
within
But
work
the
is
divine
VALETE
Having contemplated
183
all these joyful, sorrowful and havifig found that all sacramentalism and glorious mysteries, all external things, with their activity, and the enterprise
and activity
of all outward humanity, are but lights and messages pointing us to another path, these measures end with a certain sense of fulness and accomplishment. As
the rendering of a part of that part which reflects the whole, their close, in the seer''s 7ni?id, is not without summonses and warnings beforehand of other tidings.
Man
alone
is
certain secret
ating at all points the latent conformities and correspondences which compose the bond of relationship between the human
The
call of
is
like
Contents
a message from
man
to
man, and
it
Man
is
VISTAS OF COMPASSION
191
all the greatest things of human life are outside logical demonstration, so there are within us many concealed depths
As
which exceed our powers of expression. The sense of them is frequently awakened in an all-77iastering manner by simple and seemingly unconnected things of the outward world.
192
of
Nature
is
in
his
He quest, for she is the line of his limitation. sea, and she is like the great concavity which contains
TO YOU
IN ABSENCE
is like the
it.
194
do not see Nature as she is, for we behold too much the exhibition of our own limitations Beyond these there is the fuller man, the higher truth, the greater beauty and the undeclared reality.
.
We
FOUNDATIONS OF SAPPHIRE
196
illuminator of Nature, and in She has meanings only because in need of them, beauty of him, sacraments because he is because he can discern it. He responds to all her prophecies with a complete assurance and realises all her yearnings.
his light does she behold light.
.198
the mystic
and
is
The Quest of
the
Golden Gate
informant, is himself in a condition of dream, as indeed is made evident by the grotesque -phantasmagoria of accepted human interests. The sleep has, however, so many aspects
of lightness that a simple kiss might, we feel, awaken us. Such a kiss is not necessarily that of the death-angel. Prior to this some of us have been awakened wonderfully,
while
sleep
many
is
doubtless co7itinue to sleep thereafter, but such not the rest which remaineth for the people of God.
MIRRORS OF LIFE
200
look through many glasses of Nature, and if at times the sacraments do ?wt seem to minister, great parables still The message of every speak amidst the melodies.
We
parable, the deeps of every mirror, proffer to us an universal warrant for all our hopes. And this is so of necessity, because the height is reflected in the depth, and the depth
exhales
to
the height.
203
man, which are not of great interest convert naturally into parables and are then intrinsically, His wings beat restlessly over many full of precious speech.
Many
activities of
seas
and shew forth the souPs great research through the But it should be remembered that the soul is not outward bound in reality ; it is rather on a journey to
cosmos.
the centre.
205
human
life
is to
rupt natio?i that currency is valueless, and though it may continue in circulation for a time, it must come to nothing But if there is a treasury where the notes may in the end. xxvi
Contents
he converted into that for which they stand as tokens^ then the -pa-per currency is worth the face-value which it hears. That which gives value to temporal life is its convertihility into life eternal, separated
from which
it is
worthless,
man makes
evident.
.207
his man is imperfect ever on the point of true speaking, and uttered forth she will answer.
inarticulate because
is
He
PHASES
The proper study
of
210
Nature
is
in its infancy.
That
so
point of view it is so science, increases the temporal providence and comfort hy which man is conditioned more favourahly for the attainment of his true end, for which a certain fulness of ease is
desirable
may
he re-
other things equal, the way to God should in the castle than the cottage, and in purple and he easier In such a fine linen, rather than in coarse garments.
duced.
Were
quest we should do well to ask for our daily meat and wine to he given, that we may he enahled the better to seek the But this apart, the physical insuper-suhstantial hread. Nature is less important than the study of vestigatio7i of
her symbols, so that we may wrest from her their withdrawn secrets, as storm and darkness shew forth the light
of the end.
211
evolution of man is not of much consemay he true in the temporal order ; hut his
xxvii
and Nature
is
him through
the quest.
shouting to to lead on
BE YE COMFORTED
212
not go forth into the universe ; let us rather take it within us. When we have received its full communication
Do
we
shall
is
beyond
it.
In
this
way
seen,
environment
us,
It
may
be, as
we have
but
God
when
all
and larger forms of limitation awaiting within and without, as we shall find at length the outward orders are for us dissolved.
is
214
As
man,
process.
there
arid
an outward Nature, so there is an external also must be dissolved. It is indeed one To this Nature aspires blindly, but man knows
is
this
what he
seeks.
216
we can
We believe ourselves, therefore wait on God. that at length He will manifest within us in His fulness ; we trust that the time is at hand ; it is always near, according to the measure of What is slow is our gift of eternity. conscious attainment ; but the deep goes on calling to the
and must
deep,
I
and
LOOK TO
SEE:
A SONG OF VISION
.218
all that time when every sacrament are in sadness and disunion with them all very far from our home and our destiny far from saying what we mean, thinking that which we would
shall dissolve.
We
xxviii
Contents
possessing as we are seen.
we
feel that
We
AT PASSING
222
.....
is
PACK
225
There are times when the darkness of Nature testifies more profoundly than her splendours, as her silence says more than her speech.
Of
Entrancement
The beauty
ture,
...... .......
it.
226
through
227
of this world is one of the gates of rapand this is the mode of its glory
spirit
Whither
The
?........
carries
man
228
stars know.
228
are both precious, hut both can
be appraised falsely
Mysteries of Exile
......
.
229
Beyond the false lights is a place of sacraments, and that place is a sanctuary.
In Aridity
// we can chant the anthems. Nature will never
fail
to
229
make
the responsions.
xxlx
A
Flight
231
doors stand open.
. . . . .
Many
-231
always at hand
to
of the Infinite.
Great Expectations
To You
Love
IN
is
Glory
both path
...... ......
term.,
233
233
and
hut
it is
called sanc-
tity.
The
Blessed Life
234
is
The
-first
gate
purity.,
and Paradise
is
return
thereto.
Sea Prophecy
234
The
made
The Invocation
But
of the Soul
....
.
.
235
the purpose which awakens is of the spirit.^ and it is the voice of the lover which awakens.
.
-236
found everywhere.,
it.
The Sea-Fowl
Life
is
.......
XXX
erect
237
bond
not broken.
Contents
PAGE
Paths of Pilgrimage
All that
is
238
is
visible
the
evidence
of things
unseen.
....
the
239
Beauty
is also
Holy
Place.
Titles of Nobility
Symbols of the outzuard journey, in search of that which is takefi back i?ito the Union.
239
Spirit in the
House
is
242
The Sanctuary
Stella
.........
is
man
and
244
Rover's
Hymn
that which
is
245
without is known as that within, it is understood that the
is
to
When
which
thither.
Vision of Stars
248
is
The
is
Himr
simple heart of man to understand what " God hath prepared for those who love
251
the shadows to reality, and in the world of reality we shall remember, it may be, the shadows, for these have also served.
xxxi
A
a
Wherefore, Courage
Dejection has also
end. 'perfect
......
ministers^
TAGE
252
who lead
it
to
^Manifestation
Lije
is a tale of tryst, time of wooing ; bridal night. thereafter it is a mystery of the
253
quest of the beloved, and a death is marriage ; and
The Reaper
The work of salvation is the great work of man, and those who would go back whence they came must remember that this journey is
not taken alone.
253
254
they
too
are
Doom
.........
.....
is
255
Foundation of Hope
Amidst all member
deviatiofis,
257
it
something
to
re-
the path.
The Rosy
Cross
.......
and at the
257
All true gods are in our likeness, term of all it is man who attains himself.
In Excelsis
Thema
....
is
258
within
us.
Aurelia
"
The
Spiritual Chrysalis
259
Contents
PAGE
The Invocation
In the great
'palaces
261
of the universe there are
many
Azalea
hierarchies.
264
That which has left us returns after many days, in us. if it have truly a part
Distraction
........
to
266
depart in peace.
Immanence
All pageants signify the
268
One
Presence.
The
Soul's Lineage
269
testifies to
The fact
SuspiRiuM
of existence
........
and
love is also justified
;
a bond of union.
269
Love
is
enough.,
yet
many ways.
270
way
of salvation.
Fragmentum
The most difficult and his soul.
Witnesses of Silence
of all trysts is that of
271 a
man
272
The
Key, and
if this
hidden
it is
lost.
We
273
life.
A Hard
An An
vol.
Saying
indirection concerning Divine Love.
One Refuge
alternative of
I.
274
Nature and Imagination.
xxxiii
c
Paths of Zion
PAGE
Other Manhoods
All
life is
humanity in one of
The Poet
Speaks
......
-processes.
its
275
Lessons of the
Lunar
Ship.
PATHS OF ZION
Ministries of Grace
......
their virtue
I
279
PART
Holy Place.
I.
In Civitate Dei
Magna
FLOWERS OF PARADISE
From a Garden
I.
of the Soul.
Proemium
II.
....
xxxiv
Contents
PAGE
III.
Worlds of Ministry Great Sacraments V. Choirs made Visible VI. To Isles of Light
IV.
305
VII. An Image of the World VIII. For thy Marriage IX. Talismanic Magic
It
is
making many uncanonical rubrics. Herein House which is called the House of
God.
Greater Disillusion
The Voice of the Beloved Le Moyen de Parvenir And so Onward The Secret Name The Cause Pleaded The Other Way
Foundations of Victory For the Crown and the Kingdom The Last End Purgation An Opening of the Gates The Gate and the Way
.
The
Secret of Success
Consummation
Ascetic Life
313 314 314 315 316 317 317 318 319 320 321 321 322 323 323
324
....
PAGE
VOL.
I.
Sricntium
bfta
est
frjitur,
^ona omnia,
sarranuntts
fit
quibiis
eitcrnt's
nostra
consisti't,
quibustiam
C30C.
Speculum
ac inboluta
Domini
Joannis; Rusbrochii
ix.
in the
Home
vindicates the past his legends claim is for him the semblance of a name,
steadfastness and frighten'd hastehe builds him in the waste need impell'd By Rude inns and falling houses of his hands To overlook the melancholy lands And all his shrouded, sad environment.
Although with
When
About
from Life Divine, to exile he wrought fitted to the halting thought body
first,
sent.
slowly yield to fever'd sleep. Praying, long, it may be also deep. Yet counting scarcely on a true repose. Since strife in place of peace such slumber knows.
those
if
Of
who
And
He
built
then, because that frame was frail and cold, him other tenements to hold
in the
tomb. But though the body, warm'd by hearth and bed, Came through some makeshifts to be comforted. His haunted soul, mourning the exile's fate Still cried aloud that it was desolate.
ere, in fine, the
gloom
The vacant faces of a spectral horde. And the soul built with shame the House of Lust, " Where hands emblazon -" Here is also dust And though strange voices crying "Come away!"
:
Sound
day
us
rise.
The transient buildings round about One bond connects them in fantastic
wise
Houses of Sleep they are, to anxious dreams Devoted semblances of thinors and themes. Dim images derived from otherwhere.
Yea, this
Is
is
also true
the
House of Prayer
pageantries advance. sense enrings.
And
no one wakes of
all
whom
secret things Bears witness in us of a kindling hour Through all strange seizures still it speaks with power, And those most conscious of their sleeping state Are haply drawing to the waking gate. Peace on the Houses of their trance Unfold,
;
!
Great Dawn, on tarnish'd eyes, thy wells of gold And past all melancholy, clouded lands Bring tidings of the House not built with hands.
Alternation
ALTERNATION
Thou
In the moonlight, very pale, Since thy chamber opens wide One great casement towards the tide.
And
When
Hear me
below
II
Lest the great, insistent sea Day and night adjuring thee
;
!
By the secret word it sings, Take too far from human things
For
And
my singing things beyond thee make So much music for thy sake.
if
seat above,
love
THE SECOND
SENSE
Renew d for ever are the lives of books For every eye that in their "pages looks ; And many are the meanings which they bear Like limpid depths of lakes and water-brooks^ Does each who reads discern his image there.
Nature and
In
still
The
great books have their second sense, cool wells, and some can charm it thence ; purports deep by which the soul is stirr'd
Lurk seldom in the manifested word. As many intimations darkly shew, Suggesting higher search to those who know.
Far
in ourselves
till
lies.
eyes miss those heights we dream of and grow lean Through famish'd longing after things unseen Divined, not held.
And
we read
own
We
Symbolic
We We
O
We
in
such signs the force escapes. take the letter of life's Word our wit.
In strange metathesis, we wear on it And so all trace of any point expel. but who shall tell say, the Word is lost And who has found ^ few fond souls proclaim Their mission to make known its scope and aim vain assurance of the heart As if Earth's wisest speak, except in hieroglyph, Or offer more than images The deep Gives these up ; from still tarns of silence leap Visions and voices, but the things discern'd Are neither new nor those for which we yearn'd. "
:
^.
One
testifies
The dead
in
Him
abide.
And His
wrath aside."
One
"
"
'
Of the
So leave
I
also leave
word
Which
Of
all
lies for ever those bright veils behind the books of Nature and of Mind,
Eluding
all
approximating
Shall yield to
heart.
did I start in mountain or abyss, 1 could not choose but end at last in this From wayside taverns turning should behold That this one key unlocks all towers of gold Or rising fever'd out of beds of sin
!
Most truly feel it and to speak begin Nor more in cloisters praying could recall
;
That
this
is
all in all.
If things so many underneath the sun Thus lead me ever to the arms of One,
Ye who do likewise deeply crave, forgive Turn to this last again and, turning, live.
So much, without distortion or offence, A man may venture towards the second sense. All pools heaven rains in and all seas untrod Go on reflecting heaven beyond is God ;
And And
'twixt the gentleness of Nature's spell the unsleeping heights. His people dwell.
Great is the ministry of books^ and, great Their consolation in our mean estate ; But hearts^ whose aches prolong with every heat^ Find them, like Nature's breathings, incomplete.
CUPS
THAT
PASS IN
THE NIGHT
;
Great were the taverns where we used to dwells Fired by strong cups which we could drain of yore The stories great which once we used to tell And maxims^ now repeated never more ; Could any scribe have follow' d us how great
Were
truths
we found
and
late.
And with semblances impress'd Like one who drinks alone dead, Breast over
First there was chaos, out of brooding bred
Silent, inseparate, dispirited
yet
shapeless
beside the
breast
He, dipping deeply in a vintage rare. it is his own body lying there. And, in confusion, calls on ghosts without As boon companions in his watch to share
Sees
sorry rout.
So chaos moved, distracted in the night, Conceiving horror of its depth and height.
Saw
Till that
self in self reflect with deadly fear which cried above, Let there be
Made
Then all great forces strove its rays to reach As travellers at an inn the cups of each And Tohu held with Bohu orgie high From which creation, full of silver speech,
in
the
Night
;
Then did the morning stars together sing, As feasting princes who their glasses ring The Dionysian chorus swell'd above
;
upon
As
And
As
still
the uplifted cup holds blood-red wine ; And still the Cosmos, in its Moenad dance, to age, with eyes that brighter shine, From
'
age
We
From earth's quintessence shaped to make us man. And that which Nature sketches in first place
We
raise
through purlieus
Towards
of grace.
Like chaos once, we dwelt, old friend, alone, And drank with cold hearts, foreign to our own, Or, in our solitude, perchance with none So to true life were dead as any stone
;
Or
We
Do each in each reflect with love, not fear And when the heart withm us cries for light
We,
What
morning stars, together sing. time in unison our glasses ring, With cosmic minds matured in vintage fine.
like the
And
as creation,
Moves grandly forward, fill'd with high content, We, slowly down the road of years withdrawn.
Note from each tavern where the night is spent Each breaking dawn.
a vintage song,
is
!
good, though ways be long too among the stars encrown'dStrange cups pass The ecstasy is great, the wine is strong
:
What
And
far o'er life abides, in joyful stress. Full of high state and thoughtful solemnness.
That Madeline of white and red Now, list Rose-blooms was wrought, who doubts ? The wise
!
have said
the gold hair, assuredly, of her Shone once upon the King-Sun's royal head,
And
And
Saying
Dear
it is
heart,
have courage, a
rest abides
Now
thus
his flight he keeps great space upon Star after star upon the Scarlet Swan, Pours floods of light, and ever and anon,
Of heaven's
Athwart
his path, the comets with a crash the falling meteors seethe and flash ; Hurtle, Dark worlds, bereft of all the fire within, Blind in the void about him feebly spin ; And where in luminous mists the starry eyes
Shew myriad
flies.
For deep rest indeed ? he not, dreaming of the waters cool, Longs The clear brown stillness of some shaded pool, nest engirded by a world of reed ? I know at least, with keen eyes fix'd before. And fiU'd with frighten'd longing, evermore He labours night and day to reach his end On Madeline, of Mary's gift, alone,
As
legends tell, for help his wings depend. Lest he faint somewhere on his paths unknown.
is
The Scarlet Swan to Mary's gift With her it rests that he shall
bound
;
:
is full of goodness found. and high purpose to his heart ascend. Strength When Mary's gift aspires to Mary's throne. And with the will of heaven unites her own. Asleep on dreaming wings he softly glides And towards his end is drawn by silent tides But when from maiden grace and fair estate She stoops awhile, sad is the wanderer's fate
When
she on earth
II
and
stress
Of
Against
hostile currents wildly forward press ; dark worlds he strikes, and stars that fall
desolating shrieks his heart appal Alone, St. Mary's gift ; what weariness
With
Now, therefore, Madeline shall, inly stirr'd By this most faithful legend's secret word.
That
Reflect for ever in her heart thereon. so all grace and strength the Scarlet
visit in his flight,
Swan
is
and sleep be his, May With winds that favour, till he reach where
O joy
the refuge of
:
a restful
After such struggles, shall God applaud the pains, Dear heart, be welcome ; peace remains Saying
Stars,
and
thousand
stars,
and
lilac lift
God
IN SILENCE
;
SPACE of sleep vouchsafe the Lords of love To wake at length they grant who reign above Meanwhile, but substitutes for rest their schemes
;
Dispense,
till
move
To
They
free us
swoon so well
;
Alone can break the bars and bonds of spell But surely comes the wakening at last,
When
As of
We
shall
in sleep
With
in circles dovv^n,
The
stream
it
is
brown,
upon
floods.
the left
summer
!
The road is white in O summer sky Thy beauty takes the heart. What gleams high up on yonder distant hill. This moment brought in view } The white road
Great soul, to stand upon that soaring peak And feel the wind of heaven on either cheek
!
glows.
still
But
And
that which
we must
Freshens the wind advancing. We shall pass over the light lawn-grass furlong's space
Wide uplands slope upon the left and right. The trees grow denser towards the airy height.
;
The quickset hedge will part, the path will Our steps a little into bower and brake, Then into forest shade and mystery. So, if we lose the heights, we yet shall see
;
take
What revelations may, in glades conceal'd And sudden clearings, be to eye reveal'd What shapes of beauty down green vistas wait And who sings sweetly at the farmyard gate
;
those distant bells' sweet jangles cease, Feel what it is which gives the woodland peace,
Or, when
13
through
noon, Begins towards eve to chatter for the moon ; Till, after winding for a mile or less, The path comes gaily from the wilderness And gives us back once more to wind and sky. There, over pleasant meadows, soaring high.
The peak again invites the climber's feet. So we who have explored the green retreat.
And
something of its lesser secrets learn'd. Lose nothing, from our course a moment turn'd,
Since the exulting heights still rest to climb To-day, to-morrow, or in after time.
nuptials^
shall
know
can learn of unions here below ; But the soul, coming from some far-off -place. Beholds not 7iow the Royal Bridegroom^ s face.
What flesh
And
Give up, O void of voids, the marriage-song I Above eartV s jarring measures and their noise.
Call us in peace unto the nuptial joys. " "
Whom God
wonder,
hath join'd
room
:
for
Granting
who doubts ^ that none can put asunder But seeing that two lovers in one bed So Love itself will teach Seem parted each from each. As star from star is parted overhead, This question still recurs
.''
Whom
hath
God
14
join'd
Of True
Whom
And
Or
she not surely
Think you, his flesh to hers stratagem from other arms purloin'd,
first,
nor he the
last
is so quickly past courts remain to utter their decrees ? But think you any marriage of the flesh
not when their earth is dead True, they few and rarely, in their souls are wed. Who, Past doubt, eternity, assuming these, Transfigures the old bonds or welds afresh But their true souls how few on earth have found. Much less with others have their own been bound, And skin-deep wedlock with the joys it brings Scarce counts among indissoluble things.
shall part
;
some
Alas, the souls which once God ioin'd, through Deep-seated mischief, to divorce have come ; And it is only when desires within
From From
some
lustre v/in
space-immensities of winter's clime Cold, inaccessible and clear Or a;reat distractions fallen on the sea, Bring subtly-quickening intimations near.
That pasts withdrawn in worlds of memory Beyond all deeps of time Send faint reports though bands of sense enfold
Of
Naked we
And
The The
bar on prospects from all points disclosed Yea, on the nuptial night man lies alone And lonely sleeps the wife he calls his own Veil'd limbs and shrouded lips
Of such
are
Of loving kindness seek the healing touch, And let us deal with those who share our lot
As
if all
Keep,
if
mercy were, all judgment not we may, through this life's stormy weather,
;
join'd together. did God join } Man to the star he seeks, Sea to the soul to which the sea-deep speaks But here are also types symbols fair.
What
'^.
Reflecting faintly light from otherwhere Over the great abyss The far-off hope proclaims what union is.
!
And
Till
returns to
that cannot rest in man's vast deep God and there finds sleep
Has
What God
hath join'd
who was
GREAT SILENCES
Ah,
Ah, trees that know not rest sighing grass All life of earth, pressing to ends afar. Heart's flight of man and hurry of every star Where ends your quest What go ye forth to find
!
.^
i6
Viaticum
VIATICUM
He who He who
hath
made
it
it
will mend,
it
began
must end
it^
Leave it to Him. Weary and poor thou arty Weak of -purpose and frail in heart Thy hopes are vague and dim. Stretch forth a hand and try
If thou canst touch the sky Lift up thine eyes and see How far *tis over thee
;
Over
all reach !
Quit then the hour is late Leave unto Him^ to fate ; Great may take care of great^
'
Each
star of each I
Those books, my friend, you purchased yester Though treating faithfully a certain art,
Contain not that you fondly now believe
(Brother, a
little
eve,
!)
This habitation by the mere and stream. For wood-shade peace, self-promised long ago, Will not afford the rest of which you dream lock up house, my friend, and leave it so
:
(Come,
!)
The
wealth which took you hand in hand with sin When you stand knocking at a certain gate, Will forge no golden key to let you in (Make haste, one further step, the hour is late !)
:
VOL.
I.
17
What
!
Stifle the unseemly stir (Toll slowly horror falls upon the house of loss
mine
which soon
treasures
!)
Be
HEMLOCK
You know
It
that, in the last resource of all. matters scarcely how the light may fall, Or what stars in the night their beacons lift. So little also brings the morning's gift
When
Of
all
in the at
Or how
Who
noon her children take their fill the good which warmth in brightness
brings.
counts these other than as trivial things. Having so much, unmurmuring, left behind
Of all the morning splendours of the mind And all life's midway majesty and pride ^ One great detachment puts the soul aside From the fair outward fields which Nature
Since
owns,
some time sadly seeking certain thrones, Remember'd ever through a world of wrong. The soul went forth. She, having journey'd long Amidst the sorrows of secluded tracts.
Among
Above the common zones of human thought, One burden of sad knowledge thence has brought That in such altitudes all stars look thin.
So, 'twixt the throne
Hemlock
And
Its
that last dizzy peak of precipice Where you have dared to stand, the great abyss
silently.
Now, hence it is that though the With sight herein it is not satisfied. Nor is the ear by hearing occupied.
eye
may
see.
And
nothing ministers of
all
things round.
For as the man who looking to be crown'd Amidst high pageantry at eve, if left
Outside the palace, of all state bereft, Would little comfort find that Western skies Shew over wide meads phantom pageantries.
And though the stars might shine in all their state Would still keep knocking at the Palace Gate
;
So, dedicated unto larger things Than all solicitudes of earthly kings.
And
Where great gods are, but having miss'd our By reason of the gulfs which intervene What wonder now that all this earthly scene
to the soul appear Spectral and pallid
}
And
this
is
desolation
hemlock here
We
drink henceforth through all the aching void. Taking the cross of our fair hope destroy'd. No longer with the scheme of things in touch. But lest our mingled cup should over-much
Embitter
us,
and those
whom
thought intense
work of sense, Like any worldling underneath the sun We still remember that which once was done,
the
sadly seeking certain thrones. the outward fields which Nature owns,
On
We
that last dizzy peak of precipice were held only by the great abyss
19
Or
most may turn from mortal things longing for unearthly wings,
at the
Still in
The
in the distance
Peace,
it is
well
they are
When
I
I heard that all the world was questing, look'd for a palmer's staff and found. By a reed-fringed pond, a fork'd hazel-wand On a twisted tree, in a bann'd waste-ground ; But I knew not then what the sounding strings Of the sea-harps say at the end of things.
They
I cast
told me, world, you were keen on seeking around for a scrip to hold
;.
as the roots of weeds All weeds, but one with a root of gold Yet I knew not then how the clangs ascend When the sea-horns peal and the searchings end.^
;
An
With twelve
old worn wallet was that they gave me. old signs on its seven old skins
a star
I
And
good of my soul, Lest the darkness came down on my sins For I knew not who in their life had heard
stole for the
Of the
20
At
I
the
End
of Things
join'd the quest that the world was making, Which follow'd the false ways far and wide,
While
a thousand cheats in the lanes and streets Offer'd that wavering crowd to guide ; But what did they know of the sea-reed's speech When the peace-words breathe at the end for each
The fools fell down in the swamps and marshes The fools died hard on the crags and hills The lies which cheated, so long repeated,
;
evil wills.
Some knaves themselves at the end of all Though how should they hearken when sea-flutes
But me the
I
call ?
scrip and the staff had strengthen'd carried the star ; that star led me
:
The
paths I've taken, of most forsaken, surely lead to an open sea As a clamour of voices heard in sleep. Come shouts through the dark on the shrouded deep.
Do
Now
The
noon
fall
conceding my In tongues sublime Gives resonant utterance far and near " Cast away fear ;
sea,
Be
of good cheer
is here^
He
Is here!''
And now
Even
know
that
sought
Him
only
;
for flowers I sought as child, In the sins of youth, as in search for truth.
when
To find Him, hold Him alone I wrought. The knaves too seek Him, and fools beguiled
So speak to
them
also, sea-voices
mild
21
Not wholly secret, not at least unknown, May hear God speak, and shall that speech
His brothers, by the haste of eager days Distracted, in due season, if in part.
to
men.
world before me now most bounds of daily walk, But yet not more than commonly removed, And, strong and sweet, God's voice moves over it in the burnish'd sky In winds which freshen The high, clear sky swept bright by Autumn winds His eyes are shining. What if in the South Some dark clouds roll, and, gather'd in the West Below great banks, of black, foreboding mien, Far droop long tendrils down of angry light ?
Interpret.
fair
These hold some other mystery of God Behind them and a pearl is in the mist
;
On
At my
feet,
down, the heath's dark green and rich Now it breaks to burst with blossom. Begins breaks the sunshine forth ; all heaven looks out, Yes,
O'er
Earth
strips all
Like
:
a voice,
The beauty round me calls on every side " Awake Arise " And broad on farther
!
slopes
22
At
that
Door
The road ascends, while all the loose brown earth Of fields plough'd newly glows with amber hues.
Fair sleeps the vale between us
Speech
in the
An
but in the still life too ; of silence, in the holds eloquence Of solemn shadow such a frequent hint Of high intelligence, on secret things So wisely brooding ; by our doors, our hearts.
in the light
On
Or lifts a ladder, or a path makes smooth From less to more, till earth of all the worlds
Is
Hereof
When something learn'd in silence fills the heart And finds the kindred message spell'd without.
AT THAT DOOR
In the late night
I
full
stood by mine
White mists
The
against the vacant windows roll'd house was barr'd and lock'd.
The house was lock'd, and desolate and void, The forecourt wild and damp without The rose was scatter'd and the vine destroy'd
;
Loose
tiles
From ragged eaves the stealthy moisture dripp'd The moss upon the steps was green The foot along the reedy pathways slipp'd
;
On
No link was set within the time-worn sconce, No lamp in porch to shew the way;
Cypress and yew
To
No loving hand was there to let me in, No voice behind the portal spoke.
But
at the knocker's
hall's
unaccustom'd din
The
And
yet,
meseem'd,
But
still
The moon leans sideways from the sky. And in the dark East speaks no saffron cloud Of morrow's morning nigh.
Ah, what distress Acold beside its
!
By mine own house denied, dumb and wide And vacant windows,
portals staring blind
If
ILLUMINATION
With
native ease the serpent sloughs his skin, his old snake-heart within ;
Man
Yet can
does not lay his outward form aside, his old life from his new divide.
24
Illumination
II
simple words which follow shall direct Right well and pleasantly all hearts elect, And little children of the world to come ; But unto others be in meaning dumb Vague voices which delight on inward seas in cryptic images All storm and wrath
The
May
Late,
not soon
What makes us say that underneath the sun The toil we call our own is toil undone
sleep, for
hand and
heart,
And from
It is
repose shapes obstacles to art ? the sense of trust which burdens thought
We
came some solemn purpose to fulfil. till encompass'd in its whole extent We cannot prove that we indeed were sent, Nor yet be sure we do the Master's will.
But
IV
And
Something has gone before us in the past. something more must follow at the last.
Man
With
enters
VI
He
And
dwelt in darkness ere his birth occurr'd oft in darkness still his strife is heard.
title
Toiling a higher
to attain
'J
The
Such earthly
on him
as
Nature knows,
wells
;
And sustenance is his from brimming Of its white sacraments and parables
Through
all its veils
Of greater
the presages are brought passing human thought Which interpenetrate at times our own In Grace and Nature nothing stands alone.
orders
VIII
When
The The
come down into this world they take of the books, their thirst to slake ; spirit in the Temple's place conferr'd Is in the inmost Temple only heard ; And that which darkness doth from dawn divide Renders it always night, the soul outside.
souls
letter
IX
As every
dispensation of the light occurs. Save in that shrine which earth's eye never sees, The place withdrawn of the Great Mysteries.
No
United truly on
What
Deep
that
High
can dispense
Only the sanctuary's secret sense. And can at most in empty hearts arouse The hunger for the beauty of the House.
26
A
Now,
last,
life
Dream
XI
of yune
remember that which none denycan enter into sanctity, And yet no mere morality shall gain That vision which the pure in heart attain.
Clean
XII
But what
is
raised magnetically
it
:
draws
this
is
law of laws.
XIII
Which open
A DREAM OF JUNE A
SPLENDID pageantry of sunset takes
The dreamer forth along this winding road, What time the dew-fall in the roses makes.
silently, its night abode time the hedge-rose lifts a coral cup, About the dew's cool treasure closing up. Now sunset roses o^er the wintry way
Descending
What
Alone
With fragile petals delicate of hue The sweetest flower that in our country blooms
This wayside
Dispenses
its
While dying daylight's gold and scarlet flood With sudden glory tinges leaf and bud. The snow-drift quenches now the dying beam
Rose and deep rose of sunset
both a dream.
27
floral chalice,
gentle rains, that soothe the thirsty land, Refresh thy blossom from a gracious sky
May May
Thine
elfin beauties
And
thy
end
-y
May
Be
dark December
May
May
temper'd winds about thy spaces green Breathe light in modulated music low
!
seen, golden bees, Extract its mellow sweets to overflow The deep recesses of their tree-built homes. To fill with winter stores their honeycombs And in marCs image-haunted hives of thought Not all in vain may thy June sweets be sought /
!
when thy
full
bloom
is
Those Ariel children, born of summer's bliss, The moths that flit through fruitful fields beyond, With wings of azure, where thy beauty is For ever hover in a silence fond And, with deep rapture all the day long ringing, May thy fair world ne'er want a lark's blithe singing The leaves of thought which thy sere petals hold
!
O
In
may thy fabled love, the nightingale, Through all night's calm and visionary
glow-worm haunted
Abide
all
space.
thicket, or
deep
vale,
;
at hand, musician
of thy grace
!
And
With
Soft falls the snow from leaden lift above ; Soft in our hearts re-pose^ flower of love I
28
A
The
Investing
all in
Free
Way
poet's benediction dowers thee well Was that thy blush upon the western sky Was that thy beauty over field and fell
gorgeous panoply
all
Thy
things here, night envelops that thou art near! proclaims fragrance ^till art thou zuith us under Christmas snozvs^ For us the Rose ne'er dies long live the Rose I
still
are dwindling towards the least of And every utterance sadly sets towards close ; The shadow of life itself has ceased to fall ;
Ferment and sap of life no longer work ; All the quick light is still'd in shroud of murk Tet it is daylight shortly^ torrid sun ; thousand Roses in the -place of one !
A FREE WAY
The
green hedge grows by the dull wayside,
And, for no sweet reason or artful sense. But merely a landmark, rises the fence, While a gate in that fence stands wide.
on the further side of the hedge Close To the weedy bank is the oozy edge
Of a
random foot-way
Its
beyond,
the woodland screening. The hedge is ragged, the shoots spring high ; Through gaps and breaches one sees the sky
narrow track
in
Nor seems
Twelve
that twig, from the rest up-rising inches straight in the air or more,
29
guide-post pointing an
unknown
shore
For
Yet on
good
certain nights
is
late
In front of the moon's disc, dark and straight, With a single leaf will the twig stand clear, Moved by the night-wind's hand unseen ; And a still small voice in the dreamer's ear
Begins to
murmur and
" Here
keen.
Very softly there, very sadly here, Sway'd South or North by the viewless hand, "
The
leaf says
it is
:
Faerie
Land
!'And then, more plainly " He that looks further is searching vainly never so near Near, near
The
It is
gate
is
now,
I
if ever,
And
one through this message coming In the midst of the dusk night's drowsy hummingThat to him who can hear and understand Why this is the entrance of Faerie Land, May even a twig and a leaf impart Some secrets hidden in Nature's heart. Hence I conclude that the end of things Exceeds not the sweep of an angel's wings.
see for
We
And, by
know He
these spread widely from base to marge, has given His angels charge.
SEASONS
For
ever the
autumn and
spring
;
And
Summer which goes and returns But oh for the cleansing fount, Dear heart, of the Holy Mount, For which ever the true heart yearns
30
Of
Sleeping a7td
Waking
A NIGHT
On
On
At
PIECE
the drench'd sands and shallow, windless sea, that one boat which rocks, with one bare mast,
anchor, on a hundred naked groynes, on the desolate and sinking house, With crumbling turrets facing towards the tide, There falls, like stillness on the close of Time the sad, grey night. In soft and mournful mist
And
And
And
lips that
moved not
the hidden mystery reveal the King's hurts and all the country heal. Therefrom the woe wax'd greater, more and more.
Which would
So also we, who our sad state deplore. Of hidden oracle and holy lips Ask secret lights, the passwords and the grips But when the vision from the veil replies Sleep falls full heavy on our souls and eyes,
And, whatsoe'er
It utters
is
spoken or withheld,
nothing to our senses spell'd. Knight of Arthur's court, after great stress You saw the hallows which could heal and bless
May we
And
time our long enchantment break to the word of life from sleep awake
in
!
31
LOSS
AND GAIN
We lost We know
Wore,
as
it
hallow'd, full
of peace in them
I
|
High
Ah,
say, its royal diadem ; are nothing to the soul, and this legend only or a symbol is.
!
friends
it
What,
Was
our home
and why
But home is only where the soul, above These anxious ways, finds sleep of perfect love, While the same heaven which draws our hearts, we know, Extends not more above us than below. Whence, therefore, this so dimly understood Yet haunting sense within us of the good Wherein we once rejoiced ; which evermore Through mournful ways of life we now deplore Ah, if the heart could learn, the heart might find Or, at least, less inhibited and blind. Move on more conscious where the ways direct. What to avoid aware and what expect.
.''
the measure of our loss perchance One gain is theirs who thus in dark advance As best they can, peering with hoodwink'd eyes
is
Here
splendid, and surprise The sweeter, for the gloom and its dismay, When night in fine and hoodwinks pass away A hand has guided and a hand shall lead Till loss be loss no more, but gain indeed.
Light comes
at last
more
32
Of
Co72summation
OF CONSUMMATION
Wise,
heart,
is
Not
the pains.
The
is
it
the
Wise
But
the
lips
lips' caress,
who
For that which our fain mouths burn to kiss and loving arms to embrace Has never been given to lips or arms in the world of time and space.
Wise
all, is
he
who
is
does not
service ot
swerve aside.
But knows
on earth
earth denied
Who,
least things asking of flesh and blood, and than the least of rest,
less
toil
in
his
starry tracks,
come
to
VOL.
33
unflinching, cries
can
IN
ANY GARDEN
garden when noon was past, thyme-sweet bank reclining Half dream'd, half thought of the peace unbroken After the breeze to the rose has spoken, And ere it rises, where light so still is, To breathe of love to the shining lilies. Over the bower was the bindweed twining.
I
dream'd
a
in a
On
And beyond
Life's
the
lily's last
its
white cup
secret
at last
up
As
in
is
past.
II
Thought,
my
steps attend,
And
the
first is
named
Now
But Yet
I
I
Way
as to the third, I
have search'd
my
soul.
not well, for His face is dim. If love can divine the great name of Him,
know
dream
that
His name
is
The Goal
Say, have
you
Have you
\x\
also by these been taught } not seen them, from first to last,
is
past
THE
Kept well Few quests
That
KING'S SECRET
or so it seems closely kept disclose the Secret of the King. Presence, manifest in evening's cool
since in the first
too
Long
Withdrawn to-day
in the
most
secret place
Of all concealment, baffles reason's search. God veils His glory from our questing eyes
We
know
not
why
But still the longing and the hope remain. Poor baffled reason in the end perchance
Finds her spent forces unto new give place,
While
The
glory
from
all apart.
depths thereof
still
Our
Our
That, when the shallows into silence fall, soundless deeps within the soul may call And Words of Life make answer from beyond. 35
HAUNTINGS
From
Drives
life's first
dawn
till
now, when
life's
new
stress
things swifter into consciousness, Earth has been full of those strange secret things
all
Which we touch sometimes in our quickenings. So in the veils which commonly divide From what we vaguely term the further side.
Rent or thin place makes possible to see That which encompasses so pressingly. There is no man, however steep'd in sense. But can recall some such experience, When dusk or dark or daylight dimly gave
Suggestions which are deeper than the grave,
Till soul in
body
for a
moment
felt
And And
Contact with souls that in no flesh have dwelt. 'Tis then we know there is a houseless host Of incomplete humanities, of ghost
spectral people,
who, from dregs and lees of stagnant and unconscious seas depths Exhaled, their evolution's course begin, But, though remote, are still our kith and kin, And by the process of the years advanced Shall reach, like us, their share of light enhanced. You cannot draw your blinds at eventide And not leave thousands in the dark outside You cannot fling the windows wide at morn But there are thousands, as on sunbeams borne Sad is their lot, midst all their crowds alone, To none responding and by all unknown.
;
:
And
For
human
heart
is
great travail,
of which theirs
part,
By solidarity of all things here. Helps such poor souls, so far and yet so near
36
Then
And
to assuage. helps their prison'd yearning lastly leads them in their pilgrimage.
pity, tenderness
Ah
And
the Great
God
caird her with a mighty cry I need thee, eye to eye mortal life she set
:
!
Aside thereat and, featly, came A virgin soul of purest flame Their deep eyes met.
:
From out
He
From mortal veil and bond. They left their bodies side by side The blessed bridegroom and the bride And soar'd beyond.
The And
paths of light their presence own zones beyond the starry zone ; suns for them light outshining
;
They
37
DREAMS OF DEATH
In stornty in darkness and in stress. In languor and dee-p weariness^ What wonder if, o'er life's dark deep That tossing sea which dare not sleep
From time
An
The
troubled sleep of
man
laid
Which end not even with his latest breath, And sad and lonely are the dreams of death. May those who did with sleep of sense inbind
Vouchsafe, compassioning, to free the mind, For heavy vapour doth the heart enring I, more than all, should pray for wakening These many years in mortal slumber kept. What if, indeed, my time is overstept And the great hour I should have known is past, So that the only tenant in the vast And silent place of sleep, in vain I beat Wings weariful and weary hands and feet Against the gates, with clamour and ado ; But there is no more hope of passing through
!
It
is
so long to wait
That space of day the morn and night betwixt forth I went, and bore, to lighten toil, A hallow for the crowded day's turmoil.
When
bride within the gate, an image fix'd, Till eve and love should come to hearten me.
My
38
Dreams
But
I
of
Death
went forth one morning when the free Spring breath found ambush in her sunny hair,
Which opulence of light encompass'd, there Standing so statue-tall, as saints might, crown'd. And the child with her in the garden ground. Where heavy scent of hyacinths abode. Hard by the dusty tumult of the road, That artless picture shone in equal grace With any sacrament of angel's face
;
And
my
So as I pass'd abroad, with inward peace. All suddenly methought that it was long Betwixt the Matins-time and Evensong Then, midst a strange confusion in the mind At many cries before me and behind, I knew that I should go back never more That never gate should open as before. Nor door swing back, nor scented dusk reveal The eyes which welcome and the hands which heal
;
Being by sad calamity or sin Absorb'd for ever by the gulf within And, disinherited of earthly shape, Doom'd self in self to find, nor e'er escape
;
in the
gloom
my
tomb.
Long have
And my
For
Is
it
air
now
to call on
as
I
Him
said.
Who
have
my hope of waking from the dead And all the ghostly semblances which fill With their own dread these halls of voided
39
will.
O
At
but
least to
pray that I may find some track my old life directing back,
And
The The
arms may there enfold shared with me the sleep of old, little child whose innocence and mirth Seem'd newly waken'd in the life of earth Rather than aught which play'd in dreams of sleep.
that
my dreaming
wife
who
an anthem full of meaning deep thought from souls entranced could drive. And save from phantoms of the night alive ; There is a promise which from old has said How rest from labour on the blessed dead In peace descends Give me their balm once more,
is
There
Which
evil
they, perchance, repeated o'er and o'er, Shall yet become to me a gospel word. With grace to die hereafter in the Lord.
And
Ah^
let
us rest
as
much
as
men may
do
Those faithful homes within where hearts are true^ Because without the darkness and the cold
Hide
laidly shapes and monstrous growths from view^ And hard it fares with those who shall behold !
WORLDS OF DREAM
sun descended in a flaming mist God's world beneath it wide, waste downs, Blue sky, serene and beautiful, and thou. Half-shrouded sea, mysterious, with smooth, Far-reaching bay, for miles and miles the land
The
And
all
Embracing
steep'd
sudden
40
That wound among them as the wan, white moon Rose over like a phantom grandiose All these grew sombre. Facing there the main, I stood, rich Sunset Land upon my right,
with towns and towers therein. Enchanted, dreaming on the left, this world. Which sober'd sadly towards a single tint As night fell down thereon. It did not sleep, It did not wake, but ever as the wind
capes and
cliffs,
;
With
Grew keener, utter'd its disquietude, Sole sign of life. Of which of these could one
Apart from both in such a mood This and not that was true reality.''
have
said
And
tremulous heart.
In the dark of the night rose I Had a voice unknown of a day to break
Utter'd some warning cry But the East was cold, and the thin white fold Of a light mist up to the windows roll'd, And the leaves by the windows wept. 'Tis a mournful thing, at a time so dead. To wake uncall'd and with stealthy tread And the hush'd breath inward kept
.? .
From room
drew
through
: :
To
darken'd lamp and pass'd in the house that slept so fast As he who walk'd in his sleep. Over the stairs I peer'd and found, With head to breast, by his lantern's side. On the porter's bench was the porter bound, I knew not whether in sleep or swound, While heavy-eyed by the doorway wide Lay drowsy henchman and dreaming hound.
It carried a
the latch
thatch,
and stall and stye, But I never came on an open eye, For the roosting fowl, that crow'd unbidden. Slept with his beak in his plumage hidden. Far and sad, in a world of reeds, A shoal brook slipp'd through the marsh and meads. With no more sound than the dark lagoon.
visited stable
The moon on
outstaring the dripping moon her side in the mist lay red Green leaves, but they stirr'd not overhead
Dead
still,
Has more of sorrow and less of kin Than the torpid heart of the house within
Like the hush which
falls
when
My
By
heart with
its
42
How
it
In an upper room of the roof which faces East, with the sense of a hope subdued That a light may whiten the mist-fill'd spaces,
my thoughts, I brood watch but I feel that they watch me too. The unseen ones, sitting this long night through Near, as it may be, though out of reach Till sleepers shall waken to life and speech At the end of this sorrowful spell. And since high up in the belfry tower There hangs a listless bell, Some voice may bid me proclaim the hour
Sleep being out of
;
And
comfortless mood I gain vain. vigil not wholly Shall I not, seeing the Rising Sun, " " when night is done Look; It is Morning Cry: If I fell at the end into slumber deep, I should call out such good news in my sleep.
.?
HOW
The
air
IT FALLS
BY THE SEA
was cool, the wind was fresh, the sky violet, westward tinged with deep And angry red. Behind him, loose and black. Great clouds roU'd up a church, impending, loom'd He pass'd with awe beneath its tower of stone the graveyard cross'd in haste Square, tall and grey
Before him
;
And
reach'd the
wood
;
Far stretch'd
a plain
its
gentle slope
Had
gather'd ; from the orange dull glow fell on quiet pool and
in scatter'd
pond
The lamps
Began to
The
All his later way glisten. scarlet sunset and the stormy South
43
pale,
Translucent vault of heaven was thinly sown With gleaming stars ; while, above sea, the pure Unclouded moon her white and crescent disc Reveal'd, suffusing light sky-wandering clouds
And
By the shore waters washing at his feet. paused, But far through distance, mingling with the wind, And turning then. Giving forth solemn sounds. keen breeze he kept One mile or more,
He
against
And
his path the wan midst stones, maintain'd shrinking silverweed, mile or more, sea-waves struggling life. Charm'd him with music, moon on moon look'd down Mirror'd in trembling bosom of the deep. mile or more, he watch'd their communing Till thin clouds stay'd it, till there shew'd alone One pallid phantom. Then the sun burst forth. Glory of storm-iill'd wonder, light on dark Of formless cloud, crying to melt in light. He stood heaven's blaze upon his cheek and brow
His
By
Smote him.
field and tree and the thatch Great haystacks, fragrant hedges Of cottages shone in that gorgeous light As things transfigured. Suddenly the sun Beneath grim ruins of empurpled cloud the twilight over hills behind Fell swift And low champaign in utter gloom devolved.
One moment
every
Awhile the waning glory of the West Its broken pageant and fire-shards thereof
He watch'd ; the sullen purple, tinged with gold, Grew lurid ; leaden vapours far away Were stain'd with blood but here and there the sky Laid bare far depths of melancholy blue.
;
44
A
The boy
Straight from the
Grey World
He He
turn'd northward, down a lane which led sea. Beside some stunted elms the darkness chill'd him ; far and near ; paused
As suddenly
heard loud chafing of incessant waves, a violet dark involved Their vast expanse, and he, more lone than they,
well
Knew
how
He
Broke forth from covert. The wind died and But darkness deepening on the early wheat,
Left every green blade visible his path Wound pale before him waver'd stars above And still the phantom of the moon behind Mourn'd at him as he pass'd into the night.
:
A GREY WORLD
The
horse
is
warm
in his stalls
;
Warm
measured music, grand and dim. Heard from afar, is the angels' hymn.
and churl on bed bend the head : Angels of Issa, Let all zuaif-children be comforted!
Turn
horse
i?i
stall
These
I,
;
But they
me
till I
die
And
ever the pity grows in my heart For all earth's stray'd ones, her counterpart.
the child was striving where great downs rose, And about those downs did the steep hills close ; Peak above peak, with a frozen crown,
Now,
hills
look'd down.
45
The
sky was snow, and within it all Was a sense of night that could not fall ; While the wind, which seem'd to carry a cross, Scream'd the eternal sense of loss Yet through that wailing world of grey The white waif follow'd her woful way.
:
The
And,
No
was wretched, the child was bare. for greater horror, was lonely there ; in that stricken zone single face
child
bent in kindness to meet her own ; ofFer'd the grasp of a helping hand. For no man dwelt in the dreadful land ; And the tender heart of a woman had not Sweeten'd or lighten'd her orphan lot. It seem'd that since the beginning of things Such feet came less than an angel's wings.
Had
None
And
Or
the kind, sv/eet angels, it is known, Only encircle a great white throne,
if
faces,
She went on trying some goal to reach, As a lost child strives who has none to teach But she knew not whence she had come, nor whither Tended the path which had brought her thither. While fear which is worse than a frozen track an ice-world stretching, at front and back
;
Through
Forbade the pulses of thought to stir And wither'd the poor little heart of her
One thing only, by waste and hill Something drove her to hasten still, Lest cross more dreadful and greater woes, In that v/orld's unrest, should befall repose.
Over the waste, through the mist so wan. The tortuous path went on and on 46
Burdens of Babylon
purpose serving exceeded wit there light at the end of it ? And after all, in the scheme of things, Is the child protected by unseen wings ? Or is this only a show which seems? Shall the waif wake up from uneasy dreams On a bed of down, where bright rays are falling, To hear the voice of her mother calling,
:
What
Say,
is
Saying "Sweet maid, it is late, so late, out in the garden your sisters wait In the morning shine, while the bells begin To usher my dear one's birthday in ? "
:
And
The
lift
;
And the child enters a great snow-drift The sharp flakes stifle her wailing cry. The peaks are lost in a blank of sky. If God is behind this doom and wrath,
She will haply
issue on smoother path, But I know not, granting all crowns of For what good end it is ruled like this
bliss,
While
the horse
is
warm
in his stalls
;
And warm
And, a high chant filling the heavens says thus : '-''But Thou^ O Lord^ have mercy on us!'''*
BURDENS OF BABYLON
When
the stars cease to speak to thee
;
when
all
The silent messages which softly fall From liquid skies, over dark groves, have said Their final word when ministries are dead,
;
47
When winds are voiceless and, from distance brought, Sea-sounds give up no more the forms of thought Then faded Nature, once in life so glad, Wears sadder mien than ever mourner had And if one utterance in the world is yet, 'Tis but the burden of a vain regret.
; ;
with a melancholy, helpless trend. slowly into silent end, Then the soul also, fickle and deranged, Too weak for action and from peace estranged. If ofFer'd straightway an immortal cup Might lack the power of hand to lift it up ;
All
settles
When
Then
But through deep lethargy subside towards death And underneath the swooning moon or sun There comes no help from any, no not one While of all things that are of least avail, Love, which we lean'd on, seems the first to fail. Yet, signs and sacraments of death, bereft
;
Of
is
O O O
imparting through
their
glooms
a sense
Of
gulfs behind of sorrow unreveal'd of loss in gulfs unseal'd is there Do ye hold at length Say, nothing ? Far off suggestions of some fount of strength
With
And
Far as the
stars
And
far as life
strife,
.^
Wrecks on
the tide-ways, wrecks upon the sea Black frozen heights, wherein no breath can be Hearts that have broken, hearts in ardent heat To ashes burnt vain ways and vain conceit
48
Gabriel
Yet, through immeasurable loss and need,
Come hints of One still strong to intercede. And to the prostrate soul in poison'd lands
Comes
grip of the unseen, uplifting hands.
ONWARD
Beyond
the breakers
lies
the free.
;
far
We
And that beyond new countries are. From cliff to hill, from hill to plain,
pass and find a further
!
main
Until we reach where time is not. But then beyond it what Brothers
.?
Peace, doubting heart which questions thusPeace Do not all things answer us }
!
they speak not, all and each. Silence gives deeper hints than speech.
if
Or
GABRIEL
Do
you remember, wheresoe'er you keep
Your sponsion with eternity, asleep Or waking, but at least transported now
Beyond
all
And so, I trust, set free from time and Do you remember his unearthly face,
Shining so softly in the temple's band } If I spoke riddles, you would understand
Who
VOL.
I.
are
pray
49
However
Let me conceal no more, whose heart is stirr'd To tell outright what then I spoke alone
Either to you, apart in undertone, Or but in parables to other men. Far have we travell'd both, 'twixt
You, Brought
While
I
as I
dream, are something more than earth. through cold deeps of death to your new
birth,
And
have follow'd for so long the shades lights reserved in strange and secret grades
all
rest.
As
When
your ear then, plainly let me tell first it was we look'd on Gabriel, At mass or vespers, guarded, earnest, blythe,
in
white-robed, censer-bearing acolythe ; a face amidst an incense cloud Silent within the chants which swell'd so loud. Lovely he was, as human beauty goes The lily's lustre, the faint blush of rose,
Only
Met
Like
in his face
While his deep eyes had caught, as in a net. All the dark glories of the violet. Youth though he was, in our two hands we could
Have
But on his earthly presence had come down So high a sense of vision and of crown,
50
Gabriel
That out of any
place
And
So
We
whisper, he, with his uplifted mien, bright uprose that, like the ground he trod. knew him seal'd and set apart to God.
the market-ways, Madonna many days. But did, continually spell'd, defer Each opportunity of speech with her ; with the boy adored the Sacred Host But challenged not that spiritual ghost Until at length his apparition ceased.
As Dante
Who
standing
in
saw
his blest
We
celebrates, all fairly alb'd and stoled. The holy mass at which he served of old.
He
a consecrated priest.
But
I
is
my
Who
Still in
a safe retreat,
If you can do so, at the judgment-seat. But through the sorrows of your later years. That boy's face hallow'd you for purer spheres 'Mid derelictions of my longer road, So has it also with myself abode.
Still in
serves like prayer because it shines so white. And brings, in ushering to slumber deep.
It
Some of
their peace
who
fall in
Christ asleep.
Old friend, whate'er our early verse may tell, Here is the mystery of Gabriel But the rare seeds sown thus in earth of ours Once gave us many miracles of flowers
;
Fair fruits too promised what of these to say are dead, and he has gone away Oh, you
!
51
A LADDER OF LIFE
From
age to age in the public place,
the under steps in view, The stairway stands, having earth for base, But the heavens it passes through.
With
And
and deef^ the quests in sleeps Tet the Word of the King says well, That the heart of the King is unsearchable.
height
Of the upmost steps there are legends And far stars shine as they roll
;
grand.
But, of child or man in the wonderful land. Is there one who has scaled the whole ?
Are
man fell ;
is
unsearchable.
pulsing song of the stairway strange Sing, lark, dissolved in the sky But no, for it passes beyond the range
!
Of thy
The star is kin To our soul within God orders His world so well Tet the heart of the King is
unsearchable.
52
A
They
Ladder of Life
Town
say that the angels thereby come down, Thereby do the saints ascend, And that God's light shining from God's own
May
ill
May
he
mixd
at will^
The false shew true by a spell^ But the heart of the King is unsearchable.
Now,
About
And
the stairway stands by the noisy mart the stairway stands by the sea ;
it
And
pulses the world's great heart the heart of yourself and me.
We may
Both
i?i
read amiss
that
and
this.
And
For
the truth
we read
in a well
is
King
unsearchable*
few steps here and a few steps there with our voices loud, But above these slumbers the silent air And the hush of a dreaming cloud.
It is fill'd
In
the strain
and
stress
that silentnesSy Our hearts for the height may swell ; But the heart of the King is unsearchable.
Of
Some few of us, fiU'd with a holy The Cross and the Christ have
fire.
kiss'd
We
Of step
the third
I can bring down word. And you on the fifth may dwell ; Yet the heart of the King is unsearchable. 53
And
It is
us stands at his place assign'd ponders the things we love, meet and right we should call to mind
pass'd above
:
Who
And
to tell ;
is
King
unsearchable.
at least of the end we glean, the spiral curve and plan ; For stretch as it may through the worlds unseen. They are ever the worlds of man ;
Some glimpse
Of
And
with
all s-paces
as well
is
Kings,
unsearchable.
SEVEN WATCHERS
springs,
From
Withdrawn
undetermined altitude.
;
fragments of his splendid dreams Vocations shadow'd forth by ardent schemes And haunting insights pondering alone. But the height's secrets are a world unknown, And though we recognise in these our rest. That which we look to find has heart express'd Save in the glowing symbols of the heart ? Therefore the quest seems vague, and far apart
On many
54
Seven Watchers
Desire stands, vainly reaching towards its end So deeper glooms than with the night descend Fell on the soul of that aspiring Son.
:
Thereat, a
little space and, after, one enter'd softly in the gloom, and fiU'd "Perchance will'd seat beside him, said To keep us doubtful of the soul's true aim ;
Who
He
But there are earthly gifts and these are Fame And Wealth and Honour and all high estate."
"
I
also enter'd
by that barren gate," " and surely found of Heaven replied, sorrows is ambition crown'd." strange " I endured as well."
To
these a third
came
in,
made
"
:
visible
Are to be counted, as I deem, above All other paths, and he who enters them Has life in fulness and the diadem." The Son made answer " Hast thou counted Loss sorrow is my crown and cross But he " The tears of Loss are bitter as the sea. And, sword in heart, behold I wait with thee."
:
"
?
My
Then
silence follow'd, till a fourth broke in, " I am Sin, Flush'd from the revel, singing And I have known all raptures and the bliss Of shame which meets with shame, to mix and kiss." Then said the Son of the Desire which lifts The heart in search of the unearthly gifts
:
"What
wages, brother, doth thy rapture earn " From death they come and unto death return," The child of Bacchus and the McEnads cried,
.^
"
"And many
deaths in
life
my
evermore."
said one, who through the door " and crowns of such, enter'd suddenly, melt to ashes at a touch, haply But Knowledge treasures still its proud estate, And Wisdom's shining grows from less to great." " What therefore knowest thou.?" fair, sweet friend! But with bended brow the First Watcher. Spake
Had May
The
"
I
other answer'd yea, with eyes which burn'd That dust for ever has to dust return'd ;
also therefore wait dejectedly,
And
sight, perchance
is
nigh."
fail,
said
"
:
Though
avail."
all
things
still
"Yea,"
The
did we indeed believe. said the Son, star and dust perchance should interweave
star also into dust
"
But the
may
fall."
A
So
deeper silence
fill'd
that
gloomy
hall,
And gloom was on the watchers, while the Of hurried passers died along the street.
all
feet
Some pray'd within them sobbingly, some wept, As they that melt towards prayer, and other some Through windows look'd to see if morn would come.
But the air gave up at the darkest hour sudden sense of presence and of power, And where the six had waited through the night. There stood a Seventh with a guiding light
Who
Give
said
"
May
I I
me your hands, for I am made as you. look into mine eyes, and speak my Name." Whereat the Watchers cried with one acclaim
And
56
The
"
End
:
which Crowns
Who
He
" Watch with me a little answer'd space But they stood raptured, gazing on His face,
Master of All, for Thee we waited long to enlighten and to save art strong."
"
!
And from
all therein went by. the eastern heaven the sun rose high.
LOOKING WESTWARD
beyond worlds of sunset pageantry the spirit with a yearning deep forth to thee Like ripples are thy long Springs Low lines of violet cloud all dreams, all hopes Seem possible within these earthly bounds Which heaven enrings and thy bright marge of light-
Worlds
Wild West
;
:
That which
Stern silence
longs to say
now indraws
scarcely to the heart before half so keenly or so highly given, Once and for all to speak the heart has striven ;
Was
Once and
; yet the soul shall see ; the soul shall dawn, that light shall be Light Extended surely through the great domain. Nor towards the summits turn her eyes in vain Far end, perchance, but still she sees the end. Clouds intervene indeed and veils extend,
finish
But gifted inly by those ardent rays Clouds and the veils thereof before the gaze 57
That which is hidden from the fleshly eye, The end and high significance of things.
Of old, great Plato said the soul has wings, And deem not thou that ne'er the soul has risen,
Flame-wing'd, above the ramparts of her prison. Think not with bolts and bars she strives in vain, Who can at need the path of stars attain ; Yet it remains that, stars and heights explored, Or wheresoe'er the soul has plunged and soar'd,
In deep abysses or on holy
hill,
still.
The
secret baffles
subject now to terms of time and space, the outward, not the inward place. She chiefly shares the public pomps and shows
Made
Drawn by
Therein no star as star that secret knows, Nor sun divines it. Earth has mighty themes To guard our sleeping and our waking dreams The peaks have ravishment ; the great sea-deep
Has
Those which we lack, the meaning and the goal, Exceed their depth and height. And hence the soul. By outward witcheries encompass'd, sees
The
She
glory and the glamour which are these listens, she divines as best she can.
gathers something of the cosmic plan.
And
secret caught
tell
limit of the
in
world of thought
And
burning prophecies which inly stir She fashions answers, nothing answers her.
Therefore of how it shall at length befall, The hidden meaning and the end of all
58
Of
Life's
the
crown therein
Deep Seas
are hidden
from the
soul,
Which gleans in part but cannot grasp the Some voices truly at her door have sung,
But
in
;
whole.
an unintelligible tongue sometimes from her centre strike Which seem to shew her what the end is like, As if the centre and the end were there.
And
flashes
Such lesson haply might her labours spare That which can answer nothing, or, if heard, Only some unintelligible word,
:
Serving for presage in divining art, May after all have little to impart ; But in the soul herself, if deeply sought. Will come an answer to our inmost thought.
Let therefore music fail from harps of gold Let words be kept within the heart untold And let the soul no longer use her wings For ranging through the outward scheme of things, But inward turn the light of shining eyes Be sure, the end is there, the meaning wise.
;
Granting tears at length are dried. All the cares which mar life's
From
pages. the heirship of the ages. Cast, and once for all, aside.
Take
Those
And
59
Strange Houses
oj
Sleep
Surely joy, with all its keenness, Haunts too narrow grooves of change, On the common sense of pleasure Draws too much, to serve as measure Of the world's resource and range.
stars
Morning
Sons of
God
But beyond
Spreads the
may
stillness
empyrean
falters out.
we came and passed like summer. Short of sight though joy would be, might help us towards forgetting,
Twixt our
What
But confronting
earth's unearnest
And
With
Joy must perish and light laughter Waver on the lips of man.
Life
is
so far past
all
searching.
strings so frail.
So
That
must question
us.
All the keys of doom are there ; But if more with gladness blended
Than
declare.
by joy express'd us the deeps are speaking, Past the sadness of their seeking
Unto
Is
God's graveness
and God's
rest.
meads,
as
smooth
Rooks
swarm
with
as
with
screams Discordant
rise and circle high in air God's splendour brightens now their peaceful To giant elms returning dizzy nests,
flight.
Poised in the
air
triumphant.
Here my road Reveals the open country. I see slopes Of verdant green, wide fields and marshy lands
Low-lying
The
trees,
The land is dark with Far and away beyond me winds the road,
long blue
;
line.
Ascending
as I follow,
hills and hills, round me all things in the clear, sweet air Give back the sunset light. Soft winds are held
The
prospect widens
evermore round me
And
6i
of silence.
The whole
Seems mine, and shortly
Stars o'er
will all
earth
my
path.
So brown, so pleasant, like the rover's life, Goes on for ever ; it is steep, it curves. it follows all the vale, It leaps and dips
;
takes a spiral course to climb the slope. So to be lost amidst a world of downs.
Then
Here
willows in the evening wind ; by hedges do the oaks Rich foliage rustle ; on the open mead brown horse browses, while in one beyond with black and burnish'd sides stalwart beast Draws on the loaded wain to reach the track ; And at that bend he gains it. As I walk
silver
Begin to stir
A A
Behind, a dry and subtle incense fills The cool air round me ; but I hasten
now
And
see the
farm before
me
so mine eyes
At every turn are met by something new Which gratifies the senses and the mind.
All suddenly the golden
air is
changed
:
purple, passing swiftly into grey. And there is mist about me ; it is chill The sense of sadness settles, but I reach
To
To
clear space free upon the West and pause mark, in contrast, certain blurr'd, green trees
a vivid
Thrown on
first star.
!
With lamp enkindled in the South so high To mark it and to worship. Now the moon, Out from bleak vapours of the East, aglow. With not one touch of sadness, o'er the marsh Her orb uplifts. How fair, how sweet, how blue.
Looks the high
zenith, with faint clouds involved
!
62
Joys of Life
And
as the
summer
breeze,
Turns
to a resonant
soft,
Among
the echoing hills, my transient mood Of graveness passes, for the night is strong, And passionately the voices of the night
Speak to deep wells within the heart of man, Till the deep wells make answer. I, at least. in summer on the winding road, Walking With downs about me, with the moon above
With
the bright
moon
which, as
it rises,
light increasing
through the
lilac
sky
pours
to height.
Amidst the wine-like fragrance of the air. Hear depth to depth make answer, height
JOYS OF LIFE
That
Those
dreaming Blank space which cheats us quick time which Thin ghosts of wines which deride our yearning Pale shadows of love which leave us burning
;
slips
To
The
Hope's light too faint on a bleak existence AH ways too many for ends in doubt But though perplex'd by disorder'd courses One strength call'd up from the soul's resources Still to go on and to do without
:
63
WATERS OF CREATION
dost reflect alone the changeful skiesgreater speculation fills our eyes are thy masters, for, exceeding thee, Above thy wildest storm the mind can rise,
Thou
We
Strong
sea,
great sea
THE PALACE OF
Man's
LIFE
sacramental house has many halls And secret passages contrived in walls, With darken'd chambers, suited for repose, Down quiet corridors remote from those Wherein the guests and menials daily tread. Sad rooms are set for watchers by the dead.
secret alcoves, plann'd on lonely stairs, Open, wherein fond lovers unawares Are seldom taken by the stealthy spy. There also towers and turrets are built high,
And
Where those ascend whom solitary thought Has inward contemplation's sweetness taught. Halls of convention may be found and vast
Saloons for banqueting and music ; last, There, too, are chapels of a thousand creeds, By hearts devoted to the greater needs, And solemn places more remote than these
Wherein adepts
Now, howsoe'er
man
64
dome
alone
;
On
Can knowledge or mere rumour make his own Yet in that house are casements opening
vistas
Which Where
What
Or
lies
lead the paths therein ? Where leads the road beyond the fastness and the fell,
?
!
desperate days and nights without repose is no man that knoweth, save a dream Shall hint him somewhat of the clouded scheme Or voices equally unknown outseek
!
O O
the great deeps of sea which surge and swell mist of valleys and asonian snows
There
and speak about message The joy or sorrow that is stored without. Thereafter visions and the power of song.
his balcony,
The watcher on
prophetic tongues, to him belong ; Or, by desirable and awful things O'erwhelm'd, his body from the house he flings, When in a twinkling of the eye he learns The all or nothing, but at least returns Into the mansion of mankind no more.
\
With deep
has seemingly no public door for going ; here the dead in the vaults beneath with easy head ; Sleep Or if their souls into the unpierced space Go forth, the watcher cannot see their face ;
The house
And
The
if at
of dreariness,
horror of the eyes for those within Cuts off the sympathy of kith and kin.
therefore, to dissuade a few heeding tidings, whether false or true,
is,
Now
From
VOL.
this
I.
65
days are rumour'd round some open portal has been found, To say Or one which can be open'd by the hand, For easy entrance in the unknown land ; That Nature high-exalted then is seen ; That dead men greet us with a front serene That when the secret mazes have been trod The mind may feel itself alone with God, And can see truth and beauty with pure eyes. In sooth we know not which way beauty lies, Or on what heights and in what wells and deeps
;
Truth, which is also beauty, wakes or sleeps. Much less of how it shall the soul befall
In this place or in that to find the All. But not denying that a door may be Set back by him who hath its master-key. Let one who, ere the ending of his days.
not
To
man,
Or seek, especially in ways unknown, What it may feel like when with God alone. Our sacramental house has veils undrawn And curtains never raised at eve or dawn
;
burns alone the instituted lights And all that shews therein are only rites. know indeed the soul with her strong
It
We
fires
Beyond
these
In spirit and ; But not in vain do veils the soul defend ; Nor yet in vain do Nature, Grace and Art, Their ceremonial formulas impart ;
human
And
God His
Vv'hen
He
shall
put them by
From
With
all
true
kiss of peace
is
the speech of parables meantime, And up and down the house of man there pass The sacred pageants of a life-long mass let the arid speculations end,
:
Till
from the
is
There
Which
in a sense leads
Through desert places of the world outside. Open it lies for those to walk therein
Who
With
having put away the life of sin, the long quest of their desire and gain.
Do
The
in their
own
knowledge of their end. Peace on those paths for the elect attend
individual
May
And May
them diadem
who go
to
God
Who came from Him from Him did never But howsoe'er encompass'd by the hosts This is the life of life and not of ghosts,
Nor does it lie beyond the walls of each. Hard is this path to learn of, hard to reach
And
The Too
Yet
few there are that seek it, or can teach rending of the veils that guard it here
well protected since it lies too near. Therein the waking comes, the rest is dream
this
is
scheme
And,
The
steep'd awhile in life's magnetic trance, souls that slumber may in sleep advance
And
something
lens
still
^ic salve ^
Domine
omni-potens I
67
fair in
garden-bowers conceal'd,
;
When, round the high, fruit-heavy mural shield, The white wind washes and the corn-fields roll
But further I found a
O, there
is
still,
morning glory on the sea. fragrant still at eve shall pinewoods be While night is grand on mountains, in the glow And mystery of moonlight; but for me
And
One
know
So, having travell'd long, and fain to rest, breast I keep that place a secret in
my
Where sweeter
And
secret
more than
far
all
My
than Araby the blest spikenard giveth forth the fumes thereof.
me then, the language of dead gods. And drew me back amidst a Temple's types
Sign-words and sacraments of mystery. So to the end it held me, magnet-wise, 68
Back
to
the
Land
;
and hierophants But when the darken'd Fane reserved alone The secret god, I followed from afar Behind a veil into the vestibule, And saw grey ashes of the charcoal fire
Shew one
faint spark ; the open window shew'd, All bent and twisted through the floral wilds, woodland path whence myrrh-like odours rose Low voices came from violets and faint
Through such
High
offices,
the heart,
Follows election,
to itself
To
certain message and the most withdrawn wit, those deeps within the living masque
Of days.
More eloquent, of greater testaments, The heart takes counsel with the sanctuary And finds the Holy of the Holies, past All Holy Places, yet at times looks forth, Where all the chancels of the world without Which after their own manner sang of old Do now in likeness of One Voice intone. The chancel walls, expanding thereupon. Take Nature in exalting Nature gives At every point upon the Temple's gates
;
;
And
Her The
if
the
fires
and
fires,
lights
lights, offices
her
Reciting, but responses order'd well. If therefore priests at altars fall asleep.
And
No
in their stalls the choirs forget the Rites, in the world. psaltery is
69
A RITE OF EXALTATION
I
THOUGHT
at length that
haply
human
love
from the things above Might Which had so long drawn on my life of thought
offer refuge
'tis still
More dreadful on the summit of such hill The mind's fastidious balance to preserve, Nor dizzily towards precipices swerve
And
the emerited soul in sense immerge. from the summit and the verge, Where terribly the known and unknown meet,
Back, therefore
baffled,
such retreat
As those can find who once the starry track Have strain'd at and for ever must look back I made my peace with Nature, long foregone,
;
Sign'd, as
Once more
Then
I
strove so long, for me seem'd now to strive Their tincture haunted all things here alive,
Suggesting ends desired that were not they And that which in the height was far away On earthly eyes seem'd momently to loom
Clamour of triumph
seized,
glorious doom.
And in the place of stillness, brooding deep On frozen summits, or the awful sleep
can the soul amidst the heights infold, All that which beats within the chains of gold And iris prison of the public things,
Which
Through mystic
music,
its
invisible wings.
To
speak
as
to
man.
A
I
Rite of Exaltatio7i
;
mere sense alone Experience spreads her more exalted zone That past the common range of human mind There stretch the royal regions undivined, An undiscover'd country which if trod Seems to lead backward and be lost in God. There is a door, which, when v/e find its key, Opens therein from our humanity. So forth on roof and parapet at times Stealing, I saw what none can speak in rhymes But never came the message to mine ear, Or saw the visionary eye so near
testify that past
its potent spell turn'd from the invisible Breaking, And brought the light of all that dwells withdrawn. The glory of the spiritual dawn,
As when,
reluctantly,
I
These
Now,
who
dreams, nor ever question'd these, But rather, awestruck, from realities Had surely shrunk, if face to face with them. Yet beauty wore she as a diadem, And shone in innocence a radiant star Gentle and mild was she, as maidens are Whose souls are subtly link'd with things above By sanctified capacities of love. Her from the sons and daughters of the race
:
Of outward
I chose, to lift up from her lonely place Amidst the crowd which sees not where it goes I wrought love's work on her, and now she knows.
:
What
follows
This
Those who have dwelt in light can bring that To something more than isolated fruit Within themselves, and can at will transmute
71
gift
Making Whereon
as they take into their heart of heart, an altar set from earth apart,
is
And
Is utter'd.
Or
Name
!
all
symbols
set aside
Learn, simple woman can be deified when one, of light possess'd. I shew this truth to the task address'd. Has all his nature Know too the work is love's and love's the callWhile love is also the material.
And
end such union comes at length As to the worker brings another strength
at the
Those heights forsaken once again to dare, Those realms discover which await him there. With consciousness of ends beyond them still
The
hill
PLAY-SCENES
Nature is pantomime some force bestirs The antic struggles of her characters,
;
imparts to each. gift of speech. Some mask unknown stands at the stage's wings And for each mimic actor speaks or sings.
life
And
semblances of
While in the galleries and stalls we sit But do not rightly catch one word of it.
ABSOLUTION
Here
to me, friends
!
me more
That which
forestall,
than
all
Have
would
72
wrong'd you
with
Come
to
my
lips
utter,
tenderer
lips
Absolution
who watch'd me, breaking the permit me (dry-eyed, among those (Passion and have wept, No longer) share your weeping
that the wardens
Now
that
in
set
free
in
sense
Human
So that
The wand
amidst the human, not as a rock of offence. has smitten the rock and a plenteous water
heart
is
springs.
my
things.
Ye
that are
I
Rest
If any I need forgive. human, pardon wish them and joy, with the life that a
!
man
would
live
Who,
Knows
in
spite
sky, well
that
Saviour
liveth
and redemption
draweth nigh.
Ye
that
in
secret,
skins,
human, free from our follies and sins ; Birds of the air and the beasts, I know by your moans and cries, Your songs which pant for language, your sad, deep,
Shelter hearts which are
Ye
also
love, the
know.
Warm
If
I
be
you
it
may
come
ye also
!
The
life
of
all life
may
also live
73
other, closely to mingle and mate ; these latter days, less now than we were out of reach. In part I divine your thought, and in part you have learn'd my speech
So far
as
my
!
life
has wrong'd
you
:
pray you
also,
wounded you
surely
may you
be heal'd
and
live
Grace, from a world pour'd down which I knew in the times of old. Or ever my star was barter'd, or ever my birthright sold ; Surely I loved thee always, wherever my steps have stray'd;
To
leave
is
still
!
to love thee
betray'd
For
Till
all
my wrongs
fills,
empty
of
heart.
it
life
the
life
my
Yet
If
if man and brute deny me, if Nature spurn me back. Grace deflect her channels, bear witness, thou starry
track
I
know
in
my
my God
I
come
to
the strife
my Thee
heart in
my
I
last,
but
come
;
they
is
fail'd
me
in all
Those
I
here
the end of
my
me
life.
find
O
74
last
;
and
first in
the wide
And empty
aside
Thou
InsuffLcie7tcy
are ofFer'd to anything under the sun rejected, at least by Nature for one ;
are wise, high gifts
And though
We
Man
The
the hands which hold for a space. are not defrauded long Grace never truly waited, if man rudest beast of the field
;
may
of
all
communion with
;
to
the
human
great
!
heart
"
cry,
O,
my
"
!
with
Are
little less
that
my
gospel word
VEILS OF
ISIS
Nature is naked until man's own mind Has rainbow hues to all her form assigned And she in turn provides his garments dim Say, who shall robe her when his hands unbind,
;
:
Who
unclothe him
INSUFFICIENCY
Thou, having
seen
it,
art
thou
satisfied
That platform of the morning bulges wide Above the purple gorges, in the dim, Exalted light. Far down the sea-mews swim
Far down the breakers on the crags expend Their strength in gulfs where never men descend And thou, awhile from sea and shore aloof. Art as one issued on a palace-roof In Esclair-Monde, from its exalted tiers Gazing serenely down on moving spheres,
75
And
above the night's infolding arch Beholding systems in their stately march, With dark, dead stars lamenting as they glide Say, having seen this, art thou satisfied ?
far
Alas, the halting accents of thy speech Can scarce another thine experience teach, Nor can thy brain, by wonders overwrought. Shape as thou wouldst the higher course of thought.
do thoughts most come So pass the moods of ecstasy to some More temper'd state, which knows not throne or crown, And at the last thou goest slowly down, With weaker steps, along the arduous slope, Somewhat disorder'd with thy former hope A little dazed but conscious on the whole
Since in reflection's hush
!
That these high places cannot fill the soul That Nature's peaks, which few before have Do not specifically lead to God,
;
trod,
And
Only when
In after hours, the soul may then look back. From quiet ways, up the precipitous track. Where saffron morning o'er the sea spreads fair. And know that the soul's ends are everywhere.
A CONFIDENCE
That
which you seek for in your heart of heartsThat which transcends both Nature and the ArtsGreat beyond conscious grasp of human mind, But ever as the rest and goal
Acknowledged by your secret soul Brother, I promise, you shall surely find.
76
How
And The
if
it
is
you ask me knowing it so great solid ground on which 1 dare to state That you shall certainly attain at length Learn that beyond the things which seem
;
And
also
Have
courage, therefore
Keep your
daily road.
And after your own individual mode Do that which comes to hand the
as such For failures Be not concern'd too much Fear not yourself I have no fear for you.
sometimes made
;
HOW
Now
Is
IT
IS
ATTAINED
SUNSET
IN
THE
this
Is
such a high suspense from the ground As might him spinning round and roundThe world beneath
sometimes held
a
man
be, ravish'd
length permitted to descend. Familiar scenes withdrawn to some far end. And where the runnel by his thatch should be Hears the loud organ of an open sea.
finds, at
Who
Of such
suspension hear a
little
in
When the time-limits fixing life and thought, Like landmarks storm-effaced, to nothing brought, Permit that in the circle of a dream There slips, unnoticed by, a century's scheme. Or, twixt the lark's last note and swift descent.
That
years of rapture to the soul are lent.
77
Of spikenard
Which
the deep-breathing earth gave forth from Item an ecstasy of nard and myrrh That a fair haunt which in the woods I trod Turn'd on a sudden to a church of God,
her-
aisle, I pass'd, to light at last ; Through umbrage issuing An hundred feet above the plain, some crest
And down
the path, as
down an
And
and gold, how vividly, had met, gulfs beyond all gulfs of violet Open'd behind above was snowy fleece Of stainless vapour glory, one with peace.
;
:
Was
Till
blazon'd there.
it
The
heart of solar
fire
Outdrew me by
That
I
ineffable desire,
And
flashed on me, with o'ermastering force. was native to the starry course. that the peace of God, surpassing speech.
Through
my
spirit reach.
;
deeps within me yearn'd Deep, deep, gazed, to other splendours turn'd ; till that Deep, light Deep, till those splendours to a point drew in, And the eye's sense alone I lived within Lived, from the flesh set free, the soul upcaught Far past the heaven of stars, the heaven of thought. And the soul died, but something greater still Leap'd flame-like into me, her place to fill ; I was keen spirit, from the soul made free. Which is, which hath been, and through all will be, And then once more I was an eye which sees Into unutterable mysteries. While undiffrised, yet limitless, thereon The searching point of naked splendour shone
till
As
also
knew.
78
Plumes of Sable
Yes, in the light, I knew, with all made one By the same law which poises star and sun For moving systems marks a single track ; Which sends forth pilgrim souls and draws them back From out of One the multiple evolves And then the many in the One dissolves, That when the end which is no end shall fall Nothing be lost, but God be all in all.
;
Out of all time, in that great day's decline, All love, all knowledge, for a space were mine,
But holy words
are
;
wanting to declare returning where Five hundred feet above the plain that crest I found, confronted by the burning West: how vividly had met Lo, scarlet gold And deeps beyond all deeps of violet, While sinking in the lowland at my feet The lark his brown wings hid in meadow-sweet.
And
PLUMES OF SABLE
Waste,
waste, waste,
!
but
the voice
in
the waste of
the sea
The
I
And the dread, sheer height of an empty night heart Ah, the heart in me know where the deep is wider, I know of a gloom
more dread
the waste and the night of the heart, from the heart has fled
!
when
the star
79
How
Or
if
fares
it
set
we
still
For me,
Straightway I pause a
in brief to
each declare.
the road
moment on
To mark how
As
far is still the heart's abode. towards morning-tide, a dream recalls one, While heavy sleep as yet his sense enthrals, I look on those long spaces over-past. And forward, dreaming if the trance will last. While round me move the deeper dreamers here. Perchance for us the waking time is near Since one advantage over these have we,
While others in their spell such comfort take As comes to those who hold they truly wake. Perchance we felt it from the first who knows
}-
When
The grand
debate which did our quest begin Life, and the ways of life, and how therein Best might ambition and its force applied Insure our getting on before we died. In either case, whate'er the cost or pain.
;
And
Resolved were we to triumph, to attain yet, despite this effort of the will, Much, it would seem, remains to tax our Set forth the subject as we view'd it then That life one duty has imposed on men
skill.
How
to get on
the
lesson all
must
learn
By open ways
unknown. Their high All ends worth seeking, say, from star to stone, 80
'The Interlocutory
Discourse
We
Nor
Was made
Look'd
did
ere our choice pass'd in thought before us, but those which earthly hearts rejoice ;
worth life's dedicated span, some greater aims pursued by man Seem likely to avail him in the end Such signal triumphs as on art attend
scarcely
:
The crowns in paths of progress seized at times The laurel wreaths of rhymers and their rhymes
Devotion's guerdon for a country's weal Due lauds we gave them, owning their appeal. But did with blessing true their claim dismiss. Full long we ponder'd, weighing that with this, Nor did the humbler walks of life disdain ;
:
But
in the
all
And
That
the crowded ways where men compete e'en the daily bread which all must eat
better, if
it
'Twere
might
be, to
forego
Than
know
social place,
among the mighty of the race. themselves be honourable things. May But insufficient for ambition's wings. How, therefore, truly to get on } said we Then paused a moment, since it seem'd to be No small achievement that, with hearts content, could from public interests dissent And from all competitions stand aside. But presently we found that ere he died Each son of man saw vanity in these, And now, as then, the saint their contact flees. What true end, therefore, over and before All these remains } O knowledge, evermore FoUow'd and worshipp'd ye lights of
;
And
We
mind
Ye secrets of the deeps all deeps behind Ye hidden forces Man his height, his deep of the waking world and world asleep Ways
!
VOL.
I.
8l
With glimpses of
a causeway seldom trod, told us that our end was God. something Thereat we blest, as paths already tried. The grand old faiths, but put their claims aside, And forth upon our varied course we went
When
The circle of that world has brought you round Unto the starting point and how much found } How much, how little t I inquired of none Of One alone by One to seek the One, For me at least avail'd. Absorb'd in mind, By blessed contemplation's ruling kind, From sleep of midnight, watch of noon and dawn
And me
And
sought the vision out of these withdrawn ; the circle of the deeps has brought Back to the starting point but how much taught Leastways one lesson both for me and you Ours is the way of the attainment true ; No better end than that we tv/o divine Has shone upon your pathway or on mine. All paths attempting where all lights have shone,
.?
way
;
So forward, therefore
All in good time
His time
my
friend
Grounds of Union
GROUNDS OF UNION
or thee to greet Nor must I say in what far land, Out of all time, we first did meet As in this russet hour we stand.
:
That which
has parted us
curtain in
Or, in this aching scheme of things, If memories like these delude. yearning towards thee, taking wings, Doth ever in the past intrude ; From such dim halls thy picture brings, And since it sees thee everywhere Can skry no world but thou art there.
My
not speak of love to thee. For, having look'd in eyes like thine, Past love's inscrutable mystery,
will
Something more
sacred,
more
I
divine
;
And
see
And what
Taught
in
my forms of speech ; on thy chasten'd face, But, looking All hast thou learn'd which I would teach By thy tired eyes and tortured grace.
Surely
Finds task-work in
when forming
art so
thee
God
sigh'd
Thou
wan, so mortified.
83
Win
The knots which bind our souls are such As earthly ties would strain and start
;
in each so
much,
:
That once the ways we walk should touch For consolation, not for need. That which is merciful decreed.
Let then those ways divide, not they
Shall now conjoin or disconnect Thou wilt not fail me on a day. Nor I from love's sheer height deflect
:
By
reaching towards thy house of clay ; But when that day for me and thee Comes, at the end, remember me
1
In the great session, when They meet For rites of union, thou wilt wait, Knowing I follow on thy feet. And I will pause, if thou be late,
little at
the mercy-seat
shall
Till
God
make
us one in Him,.
84
Theophany
THEOPHANY
Too
We
long unmindful of the great concern, did from errors of our way return,
From
strange side-issues and from paths involved. Thenceforth on reasonable life resolved. Our sins fell from us ; and unloosed with these
Who
Full
marriages, Incurr'd regardless of the sacred things Which life imposes on the Sons of Kings
wait for restoration to their own, Since old mischance deprived of crown and throne.
many plans we tried in vain since then, did neglect the arts and crafts of men Uncertain of the ends to which they lead ; But there was little for the greater need
Nor
Which on
Hearing
Set
their
falls,
calls.
now with steadfast feet in these new ways, What quest might glorify our later days Whose hearts so high were fix'd on things above
Regarding thus the place of love, What could we seek herein to hear or see But the sweet rumours of its mystery ? Of Him who shall at length our crown restore Some faint reflections on this earthly shore ?
Ah,
friends
And
so it fell that from the dream we kept Within our hearts, a flame of ardour leapt. Till we, drawn forth to seek in every place The tidings of His presence and His grace. Did in the end, by golden legends led, A realm of mystery and wonder tread. Chosen from all the places of the earth,
To
see
God
manifest by
human
birth.
85
The
Kings which had follow'd, from their realms age-long portent of a certain star ; Priests of a line which since the world began
afar,
Was
And,
man
melancholy seas, The silent keepers of the mysteries ; Met in their crowds upon that haunted ground
And
The pontiffs with illuminated eyes, Or those who, secretly instructed, knew
How
From Came
came the shepherds from the hills, And he who sows the ground and he who tills
There
noisy marts the merchants flock'd in haste too the lawless rovers of the waste ; And from the city hied the child of sin To see God born and a new life begin To make refreshment in a weary world.
So round about the holy place were furl'd The nations' banners peace on nations fell. And the long strife of creeds was ended well. The spirit of the world its pride gave up. And kiss'd the hallows and the holy cup ;
;
The The
it
died
And
sacred mass-words, and was purified ; Lucifer, the Prince, who knelt with them,
And
that
we
also
knew what
sacred things
86
Of
Faith
and
Vision
life,
We
perfect, free and undivided love, seers have loved for ever ; have abode
gloom of heart or mind have ever into day. Unwillingly With strife and clamour of aspiration, sprung And when we found true sunlight we were blest. We have not scorn'd the simpler gifts of faith, Yet sought in knowledge, with the soul's clear sight. That lucid world, its scatter'd rays of grace Receiving and reflecting but when those Were granted not, we held to faith and hope
In any conscious
; ; ; ;
And
any beam diffused along the dark, Though less than nothing to the world at large, Our hearts collected, cherish'd, dwelt therein. And bless'd the Giver ; counting all things well
grateful for
His speech ; His silence with the same brave heart Keeping Which, bidden, would have trumpeted His word For ever waiting on that word by Him Withheld for ever. To the end of all we fail but do not faint Approaching now,
silence as
.
.
As
His
has not seal'd our mission or granted us The consolation of His messengers.
He
We
have not heard His voice ; we have not work'd miracles, nor stood before His world And testified that we indeed were sent But we have loved the light, and here and now, Before the antechamber of the tomb Yea, underneath the quiet wings of death Faith helps us still, amidst true calm of soul,
His
87
To
say
We
and, whether life or death, the vision and the truth. still desire Bid therefore, Lord, Thy servants pass in peace, Beholding Thy salvation with their eyes
!
THE PATH
Seeing that
all
which
lives
That every
by One ; which works or star which sings In fine goes back into the font of things That by a final gathering of force The soul of man shall, to complete its course,
will
;
With a great rush return from whence it came The last and first can differ but in name,
And
one beginning and one end. How then these varied interests defend Which now distract and dissipate the soul, Leading it daily further from the whole Wherein we know there lies our only good Ah, we have heard but have not understood From the confessions of our lips the heart, Untouch'd and unconvinced, has stood apart, So that mere words have trick'd us over long.
there
is
.''
But, when the soul is search'd, the soul proves strong Zenith and Nadir and the Sacred Hill Shew nothing keener than the human will, Directed wisely unto wisdom's term. Let us be therefore bold, and here affirm That one strong wrench and this alone man needs To set himself apart from evil deeds
;
And
The
if in
from these
all
mysteries
88
The Path
So well within the circle of his days That if, forsooth, there sounds a seraph's
praise
About the white light of a central throne, Not to the end shall angels serve alone. Man's voice with theirs may join, he stand with them, Nor fail at last of any diadem Which can crown souls in any place unknown, Nor if the stars have thrones lose star and throne.
All
this,
however,
is
when
But up that steep incline which once we trod, When we came down we know not why from God, We know indeed that none to climb begin.
Nor
away
their sin.
To
hard for man to sin no more } all which drew aside before, Henceforth for him, is of its lure bereft, That to go upward is the one course left } Bear with me, friends, if what I know full well. Of all evasions free, for once I tell This is not hard to any heart resolved, Since in the soul's bent is one change involved, One simple reconstruction of the will ; Then from the soul shall pass the lust of ill.
Now,
say that
Think Think
is
vain
;
;
Know
who
Is folly always, if not open wrong Fix this before you, and you shall not err Nothing shall tempt you, nothing shall deter. These are plain words, but their high sense enrings The solemn secret of acquiring wings,
;
89
And from
a complex to a simple mode Can bring the soul, so that it knows the road
So, seal'd with all simplicity, discerns what was many to the One returns.
How
VALE
Good-night the hour is late, the house is cold. The fires have smoulder'd down, the lamps are
;
spent,
And
which I also need doth now enfold. Sleep how long before we meet Late, late it grows the fells, the fastness, the abyss Beyond ways too far for over-weary feet
:
.?
all
what the true goal is Somehow, somewhere, in darkness or rich gleam, Yet shall we meet Till then good-night, sweet dream
heart uncertain
!
90
A BOOK OF
"
i^ttlta
qnitiem
sunt
eactamenta
aliquo
intitsibilis
staretur."
gratia signo
S.
fatsifailt
pra=
Bernardi Abbatis, In
Cana
Domini Sermo.
Book of
omen and
sign, impell'd
I
On
I
conjecture
catch faint words of the language which the world speaks far and wide And the soul withdrawn in the deeps of man from the
birth of each
I
man
is
know
that a sense
in
we
the tones that are scarcely heard ; While life pulsating with secret things has
And
to speak, that which evades, with a quailing heart, the sense we seek
:
To
symbols crowd, render the easiest reading, catch the cry that
is trite
and loud.
Wistfully therefore, a mage,
that here
1
bring
A
Of
their
lips.
runes
to
render through
Only
mystery's scribe
;
make my
script
of the things
which seem
And
this
book
in a
is
book of the
who
Has walk'd
The common
life
world enswathed
in the
dreamless
swoon of
But you, who
sense.
same
suspended
And
recounting the moods therein, for an hour of waking wait Triumphant then through the light derived shall light from the centre blaze. And that be known which we glimpse alone through the moon-sweet mist and haze.
I,
;
How
will
it
come
day
.''
What
will
the
dawn
disclose
all
at the
94
PART
"
rceipice
finem
F.
finis
Basilii
Valentini
Practica
de
Lapde
Sapient um.
Worlds of Vesture
WORLDS OF VESTURE
Far
spreads a mind-world full of gleam and
pomp.
And
shallow music, on a Discoursing lightly to external sense, But, void of vital meaning, leaving souls
Beauty here
it
specious only
to the heart
No
Of
brings
:
Here Akin
moon
full-orb'd.
and of joys Bereft of depth or height what restless crowd Is As earth of mother earth. there surging
sensible impressions
!
For
Hold thou
ways
All ye
!
inspiration pure, for genius true, these worlds with all their
paths
and
be saved, come out from them. the heaven of everlasting mind Surely the Word Divine shall welcome you No password there he needs who keeps within One sacred truth, that man is compass'd now
who would
And
in
By many sacraments and parables. By speaking likenesses and shows which shew
Rich depths for
inquisition.
Close about
And
They The infinite behind them. By a quest Which does not take too far or ask too much We can achieve their meanings, know the grace Which lies within, their living language learn,
this shall
take us past
all
outward pomps
Far into
VOL.
I.
vision, far
through mystery. 97
In splendid pageantries of holy sea, As in the mellow hush of moonless nights, And in the grandeur of that starry vault, Dare to confess the ministries of deep
which unfold
for
him
His insight, inquest and experiment. All speculation's penetrant research Toil-conquer'd tracts of knowledge and the vast Beyond ungain'd the solemn sense of things Immeasurable glimpses scarcely caught Of new worlds glimmering on an utmost verge And precipice of being ; these are fonts
;
Of
true suggestion
Supreme
Find proper end and first reality. Thus, by the glass of the astronom.er,
Man
And
gauges further and surveys himself; in proportion with the mind's advance Great Nature widens, for the silver links Which form the mystic chain of hidden things
He
While
the divine
And
At
The goal is still within ourselves alone, The dream is also there, its meaning there All in a sense within. The outer world Marks but one era of the human soul's
Advance, developing her infinite. O blessed promise of the time to come
!
A wider world
At each succeeding
of
itself,
98
the
Venture
set free,
The
And
of pure repose
Thus
I,
also serve,
Who
'Tis said, who stand and wait ; v/ait to hear the Master's charge,
Do
quest
all,
As ships brave storm and stress. Nor e'er did greater hap befall
In old sea voyages ; For, compass'd in the flight of thought What has been or shall be,
1
wrought
De Gama
Cape
day.
Thine Inca's
And
Fold
main,
:
all
From Cape to austral pole With brilliant, topaz, amethyst, Tempt eyes but not the soul
Those sea-kings
Set forth
Which future ages shew. The secret of the poles lay bare. The flight of men with wings.
And
beyond.
in
higher soul
}
bond
wings
uplift.
Nor stars, nor suns extend, Though past all starry paths we The lights of our great end.
drift,
By
I pause and still revolve and venture free Voyage Dim main, through all my dream intone And far through paths untrod. Sung on by all life's voices, lone Let me embark for God. lOO
!
While here
Transcripts
I
know
I
not
I
seek,
true,
Ah,
I
life's end, if I only knew, should know all life's doom Light of the endless East and West, Shine on me here as there ; The signs at least of this great quest
TRANSCRIPTS
Spurr'd
on, with zealous soul, to seek Life's gospel, now unheard, Boots it to take the mountain peak
flight of bird ? too shall hear it speak That lost, that only Word.
sought
Nor
Art
And
I
of old has
With longing
eyes by tears
known made
;
wet,
The shadows of
Dance
in this
thousand leaves
;
dying light
The Word
my spirit grieves grass and moss they write ; There too the blessed zephyr weaves
On
The
Blessed
for which
Word
lOI
of might.
Old is the soul, and otherwhere Read once with shining eyes The Word's compounded meanings
rare,
And
At As
I
;
stare
Who
And
deep in waking dream immersed Seems ever on the verge Where very life and light shall burst, To hallow and asperge.
Him
To
the true
life
escapes,
and
vain
writings try reconstruct again flash comes oft to beautify, But never to remain.
:
And
yet
in all
Through life and time abide They take me far through haunted ground
And far through ways untried ; Lost Word, thy transcripts still abound On every country side
!
Then,
in those
moments,
rarely
known,
the soul feels her wings, Emblazon'd upon star and stone
When
There
flash
Through
And
Comes
secret sense
And God
And all His worlds restore Methinks that Word of peace and
:
rest
High-seated
Lost
Word and Last Word, far and Heard through the closing gate. Dies the dim echo of thy song
!
long,
Soul,
is it
dark and
late
Vast
is
We
Yes,
is
strong
we
are waiting,
and you
The white Kings v/ait enthroned And life's pale outcasts languish too,
;
Word
Be suddenly intoned.
ECSTASIES
KNOW When
The
moon
all
gold
iVIoves swan-like over the spaces high. And lone unattainable tracts of a purple sky.
air is
And
The
is
keen
Artemisian sheen
in
and crowd
the
quarters
103
Twist bending branches, high tops that sway and soar In the search and swathe of a viewless tide. It rises up on a sudden with shout and roar, Latent strength of the storm and eager rush. Or sinks with the soft and languorous sigh of a
summer
breeze.
in
Swooning, crooning, soft the midnight hush So passes the world aside.
:
the
mystic
arms of
know
When
the shadows lie so rich, so slant, so long, Over the close-cropp'd lawn which else is white with
dew,
Where
To
thickets
secret
bird in song. The darkling orbs of the sunflowers, splendidly tall. Droop in the moon-mist nimbus, dim with
leaves the
thick dews
rise
and fall And the musk-rich scents of the garden To the overshadowing fringe Of their gorgeous, golden eyes.
I
know
When
at last the
uttermost
stillness steeps
lily, and laurel and lilac hedge. The leaf does not stir on the willow, nor the leaf where the ash-tree weeps. The topmost twig of the yew and the cypress sleeps Like the box of the garden edge.
Rose and
hills,
fills
104
And
The
Hence
these Ecstasies
palaces sacramental and high-roof 'd halls In the haunted place of incense, the wondrous place
With High
Earth and its crown between an unvoiced solemn promise of boundless grace. over the East's red ramparts, gateways and
cloudy walls. over a thousand changeful turrets and towers, The morning glory of heaven blooms over and calls To morning glories of earth in a thousand bowers.
And
know
a glorious
That
the high emprize of the life of quest Traces the pathway slowly which leads to
end.
Clambers
winding
stairway
which
takes
to
the
wondrous
goal never
:
height,
makes
for a shining
That
the
human
starry soul.
promise
which
haunts the
And
Or
never the hope which holds so high each head up-turn'd to the light. the great desire which swells and pants in the
breast,
:
we have dared to dream in the loftiest flight Is only the rumour and noise of a greater gain Out of all mind and sight That if one tittle of all we fail, as it seems, to attain.
That
all
:
never because the dream in the heart was fond. But because of the height which still soars over the
It is
height.
105
WINGS OF FIRE
Springs to the West
a scarlet bird o'erhead,
Then
sped
The
splendid clouds about her burn and glow. Through liquid gold she glides.
On
What
White
argent, crumble
down,
^5
And
So
scatter shards
One gems
all
the lambent distance lessening through, eager wings address'd. She merges past man's sight into the blue Beyond the blazing West.
With
in Thy splendour pure past such pageants They may dissolve and end
!
Our ways
direct
whom
perdure,
Thy rumours
We
hall,
Thy
call
Through
all life's
close caress.
We
speak incessantly in clouds and veils Speak, we have heard through these know what message of all life exhales In Thy sweet August breeze. io6
!
Wings of Fire
The almond
blossoms
in
Thy
;
breath
the red
where we tread
severally sanctified
And
all our days, sacraments abide many Thin-veil'd on all our ways.
And
sanction'd
dost in
priestly chrism
fills
Which
And
But
Thy
if
board of plenty
is.
life
Some
Thy
transient sorrow sears. unction falling on the strife holy Melts pain to happy tears.
True joy
by no
cross
Ah, one thing more, last gift and best, we wait Beyond all type and sign, Teach us to issue out of Nature's gate On Thine unveil'd Divine.
Pipes on the mountain shrilling, stars supreme Calling along the height, Lift us, uplift us, out of this high dream Into true waking light
!
107
THE EXTREME
Man
SENSE
treads a path with signs and lights ablaze, Yet scarce conceives of sacrament or sign
;
And
hence, ill-starr'd, his genius strays, Midst things that seem, not are, content
To When
shine.
Nature's mystic life at first unfolds. False sacraments he makes, of veils unclean
The open'd
eye but part beholds, Misreads inverted types and tales Between.
And at the best we catch some hints alone, The cypher characters in part translate And then, our powers at fault compell'd
More
insight with dejected heart Await.
to own,
Man
can but place, in his most lofty dreams, Constructions on the signs which best accord With signifying Nature's schemes And broader gifts to life repress'd AfFord.
Nor saint, nor priest, nor poet can reveal The true construction which, obscure and
Life's sacramental depths conceal
grand,
At hand.
io8
House Fantastic
it is
It falls
with
It glitters,
Peace
Silence
the silent halls of night The heart knew once, the heart forgot, And yet again the heart recalls
it fills
! :
we have heard
recall
it
it
understanding not
God,
in
Thy morning
light
HOUSE FANTASTIC
Stood the house where I was born In a garden made of old There the heavy, scented flowers Lay in wait to trap the hours.
;
And
the
moons
in
mazes
fold.
In the house where I was born Vivid light of rose and gold,
Permeating vast and fair Vaulted heights of heavy air, Held the netted sunbeams there
In that mansion, ah,
In the house where
I
how
old
was born
Mystic echoes waking told, In a legend-haunted tongue. As of viols half unstrung, Of the days when life was young,
Pulsing through that mansion old 109
!
Columns moulder'd moist and wet Walls where little runnels met
:
Woe
I was born, weir and wold, Overlooking Heirs of Kings who once held sway
Mourn'd for grandeur pass'd away, Fortunes now in such decay As o'ertook that mansion old.
was born.
:
Would
To
was born,
rites ensoul'd.
Long by
mystic
alone
Watching
o'er this
mansion old.
To
I was born Gentle maidens, masters bold. search out the secret brought
.f
Happy
And grew
eager thought, old there as they wrought, Perish'd in that mansion old.
faces,
no
House Fantastic
O'er the house where
I
was born
Unattempted melody,
Pouring through the mansion
In the house
roll'd,
And
my
fingers playing
;
That spinet resounded, swaying There was moaning, there was maying
In the resonant mansion old.
was born
Came the abbot, coped and stoled. Came the censers, came the lights
;
Lovers
Rock'd the bases, cried the heights Answer'd all the mansion old
Singing oj the splendid Ouest^ Nature's secret end confessed ;
;
:
Type and
sign
;
How
The
unskilful senses learn true matter to discern ; the artist's zeal intense the ruling secret wrest ; call and sacred mission
How May
And
Solemn
beyond
And
In the house where I was born That which hinders yet will hold All the songs to silence ran, As when first the dole began For the anthem and the man Tarries still that mansion old.
:
II
Into this great world I went, Midst the sign and sacrament, And another meaning lent Legend of the mansion old.
In the house where
I
was born,
By
This old
mansion old
In the house where I was born, Till the gifted hand unfold
Music
living,
music
rare,
The
long-sought forgotten air Sleeping latent everywhere, As within that mansion old.
The Vindication
In the house where I was born Let the newer tale be told
;
Claricord or organ deep, Open tones from Nature sweep, But more secret tones asleep Rest, as in that mansion old
And
In
Hidden
Ill
JVaiti?tg
BEHELD
Spread wide
Now my
By
in a dream of pageant night blazon'd with devices bright banners, waking eyes are tinctured by the sheen and
a scarlet
its
show,
the glory and the glister and the gorgeous glow.
I
Hence
from
its
sources
deep
Comes something
And
like a
closes,
Now
And
Is
may
hint to
you
true,
as a veil
is
by certain tinctures vested in a light divine. sometimes lifted suddenly to type and sign.
see that there are sacraments,
We
But the
Incalculable, even in the humblest scenes. richest and the fullest in the mystic plan Is the sacram^ental mystery of man to man.
Of a
By
is sign to each labyrinthine nature out of sight and reach ; the texture and the outline of the veil alone
Do we
The The
its
form unknown
sign of strength and symmetry, the sign of grace, sign of sainthood lighting an unearthly face. And, pregnant with its message from the world within. The fever and the scarlet of the sign of sin.
VOL.
I.
113
A
at sea.
unconscious or lost children's cries, all signs, remote as white spume out
will be.
Now
this, I
life
Would
of
;
think, received into the heart of heart, life to mere day's length of shadow-life
in
fair
impart
soul-gardens
As Carmel and
men.
But, symbols to each other, to ourselves we are not itself the star light reflected only, Ah, therefore shine within us, thou sad moon of mind, To the day-star and the noon-tide and the goal assign'd
seem
more than
Till the light of further knowledge of ourselves and all The lords behind the portal in the Father's hall
!
O, hold we
As
all our sacraments till that great day consecrated altar-lights which shine alway, And on the sign where God Divine may dwell, of man unseen. Let saving dread forbid the print of any mouth unclean
!
I have dwelt among the tokens, and in types expound Some fragments of the secrets which our ways surround,
And
The
me on your
lips
and
brow.
114
thou
art thin,
Inward, transcendental
at
Glory canst
need
let in
And
Need we
Are they
Where
Fill
Undetermined
with joy your paths unknown But to catch the inward graces Needs the inward sight alone Meanest places hold the spell
:
Of unfathom'd
miracle.
Hence when any hour invites you, Whether seemly eve's repose.
Or,
if better this
delights you.
Night august or hush'd moon-close Best where best your charm is found
There
On
As
And
Grass and glebe and grove expound Thin-veil'd secrets latent round.
115
Visio7t
wondrous tale be told, But in wild ways meek and lowly, Beds of burning marigold
Shall the
:
Most betwixt
the
lilies
straight
Not devoid of dream if blended Are the windflowers and the docks,
For myself
I
love a splendid
And my
Place of purple hollyhocks, fancy knows great powers Which lie rich in the sunflowers.
could
set
you
in
my
closes.
And the bird's lilt, low or loud, Voices outward, clear and strong. Worlds of rapture, worlds of song.
But
for
you
a place
of wonder
be
;
'Twixt the trees that you stand under, Seeing what is yours to see
In
my
is
All
and white
light.
Of
all flowers the bloom and splendour Backward, forward sweep and swing, Light as pampas grass and slender. Fringe the edge of the world's ring ; As the wind-tides round them lave. Cups and patens flame and wave. ii6
yam
Noll Tardare
rises
each exhaling
ascends.
dim enchanted veiling. Eastward as the dew descends Hence conceal'd in all that seems,
:
Yes,
Then if man through far creation Must the secret meaning make.
Fountain, centre, destination. Let that secret soul awake. And present the inmost plan
Man
in all
and God
in
man
While the Word of Words reposes Far beyond the lip's control.
Till the fitting time discloses.
In the garden of the soul. Let us dreamers day by day In the outward gardens pray 117
May
humanity
IN
THOSE HEIGHTS
;
And
Stars
light
Who
Where thou
Of thy
soul taught
forfeit
terrific
The
infinite
is
domain
That
It lies
thine end.
And
above thee, spotless, cold, serene piercing as a polar wind. But thou must quit to find Seen for unseen. ii8
In
those Heights
;
Dissemble not the joy of this great quest Yet know that all of earthly bliss
Thou
All
human
rest.
What others prize, on that thou dost not What others mean is nought to thee
;
reckon,
see
through
That
The
is
dead
No
But
none disclose
By
All things are merged into the sense unspoken, And up through depths their prize concealing
dim
Still
own will to penetrate further in that daring field ; What shall the seventh sense yield
with thine
.''
gorgeous
state
When all the shining seas are travell'd, And all the maze-drawn paths unravell'd
Be thou our goal
119
!
A
O
Book of Mystery
set
and Vismt
man
;
Responding,
thy
veils aside
Thine inner
self confide.
Thy deep-drawn
plan
Have we not follow'd in the height and deep The uttermost abstruse invention
Of
Waking,
Thou
know'st, because the outward sense Sight does not satiate the eye,
is
dumb,
world we move
Demanding
And
if,
invade.
The
Make
hearts afraid
inmost heart.
apart.
!
men
So
shall
we not
life's
When
Out of
the Fulness
;
The wise are lone amidst the concourse loud And we, who scan thy mystic pages, More lone midst all the sages Than they in crowd
:
Because if adorations mount Past common worship's fount Shine no gods' faces.
places,
To
simple sense,
whom
This world her sacraments dispenses, But oft starves out the senses
Which
sigrns discern.
On
And
Her
Therefore be with us
as
we
are,
and ascending
And
These make
121
arms
With maid
in
moonlight, praise
Who
Can none
Of body and
bridal bed.
Will she that heart's spouse greet By terms to mine akin. Who does not dream how sweet
The
On
What
Too sad and strange for her She reigns how calm, how safe, star above the wild,
.''
chafe.
mild.
By
her
Of
lesser
consequence
Than
122
Out
What
of the Fulness
on 'change, whose fate
To men
Hangs on
The
drive
And
Toil
all
human
flesh
Scourges, to keep alive. Why squander time and breath ? Who can, that wills, take heed Life is all whirl, and death. If that be rest, God speed
!
E'en thou,
Is
With skill to catch thine ear? Are seven in Rome allow'd And two in England here ?
But
if,
From
My
But of
In
all a
Where
How O
partake at will sound my tidings then ? Stars speak to st?rs, but thou,
all
priest-voice, leading
men,
And
this voice
mingle
how
123
Book of Mystery
and
Vision
All things on sea and land Speak to my soul, and each Blythe voice I understand, Ansv/er in flowing speech. Quantities, measures, rhymes. Harp-string and organ note
Surround me
at all times
Sun
flaming course. All the world's lights, and all Darkness and tempest's force, Thrill me with frequent call.
in his
Bear
no tidings true all might hear and Plain Nature, simple view
I
Which
learn,
And
little
child discern
tell
know
the small fonts as well great Vv'ith mercy flow ; Grace to the humblest field
How
As
Of
daily
is
life is lent,
For each
In
With marks
Wall
of sacrament.
Street dare
An
Why,
ofiice
God
we say disowns.?
!
Do
But ah those signs august. For ever far and nigh Through all life's fume and dust.
The
sacrament of high,
124
Out of
Aspiring
the Fulness
love,
human
Ah
utterly to feel
Beyond all type and veil, Deep within deep, far down, Yet not beyond all hail. The Vision and the Crown.
Hence
to myself
speak,
;
Some
brothers of
Who
my
kind.
Of this my
For them
mystic tongue
They know
Set to a sacred
Perform'd within the soul 'Midst incense, pomp and light. I know what stars have shone To soothe what seas unblest ;
I fix
my
faith
upon
I rest.
The
Vision, and
125
Book of Mystery
and
Vision
dial
As
mystic procession on-flowing, star from the East follows star ? I have come through the past from afar,
;
Yet the vistas stretch solemn and straiofht Can the mind forecall, at the term of all
What
things
may
befall
and wait
thee.
!
O
It
ever as heaven
moves round
Thy slow shade forward steals tells of the days and their sequence But nought of their source reveals.
Nor
At
yet what their end conceals ; Before, behind thee a blank unseen,
a
Thou
Therefore thou art as our symbol, As if in man's image art thou For looking before and after. We know not of whence nor how, Nor whither our trending now ; But the space between, with itsgroves andfiov/ers, But the gloom and glance of the time's advance, These are thine with their chance, and ours.
;
Here then
And
With
I
in the copse and woodland here in the glade, besprent a glory of scarlet tulips,
;
For I see, with a heart content, That the signs decreed by the common mind, Which are none to me, are renounced by thee For the deeps we see behind.
126
some think
vainly,
The type of a wing's swift rush. The sweep of a flood-tide passing, The vortex and the crush,
But the solemn throb and the hush Of the great durations which ne'er diminish, And for evermore are behind, before,
And
What
then
is
some cloud of
in
moment
?
ghostly hand
summer
To
grand Ravage of battle on plain and hill Yet brief is the space ere a moon's bright face Shall the height and the base make still
;
!
Herald
in
?
the darkness
or
moon
record
of all brightness only Writes on thy mystic board Pass, Light withdrawn and restored
!
infinite, perfect
beam,
!
glory of dream
Ah,
thy hauntings ever light thou art, And time with its changes noting Dost stand from both apart ; Like the inmost human heart. One truth confessing 'midst all that shews, The depth and height of the splendour bright. When the light of all light o'erflows.
spell
!
me
Haunted by
127
Visioit
Dial of God's great sun What unto thee shall be darkness, When darkness is over and done
!
hours run hint of the haunting of souls, involved Where the light rays beat, and the centres meet. In the great white heat dissolved.
1
seize
as the soft
HOW
A
VOICE
in the dark imploring, sweet flute play'd in the light, An organ pealing and pouring Through the world's cathedral heightAnd again the charge and the flight. The clash and hurtle of fight. O thou art grand, thou art lonely.
With
Filling the
known world
only
128
How I Came
to
the Sea
Great voice, which invokes and urges The strenuous souls to strive, Gather thy v/aves, thy surges ;
And
Where white crests crumble and white spume scourges, Thy drums and tocsins and horns shall blow.
long reverberant beats shall come and go, thy surf-line in sky-line merges To where, by sounding buffet and blow Blare of peans and muffle of dirges Capes which crumble and torn cliffs know The strength and stress of thine ebb and flow Waste and know thee and thee confess. We do not know thee, we own, we know ; But our soul's might in thy might rejoices, Our hearts respond to thy wild vast voices Thought with its fleetness swift wings from the course of thee ; Tongues in the speech of thee Hope at the source of thee Fire from the gleams of thee, strength from the force of thee Width through the reach of thee ;
Thy
From where
And
to
thee, these
do we
brins:
Nature's great sacraments rise from and spring to thee. All other ministries sun, when 'tis shrouded, Moon in the morning light meagre and pallid, Stars overclouded All are invalid VOL. I. I 129
A
Thy
greatest ministry sacramental sea, terrible sea, Thine are the words of the mystery
thine.
Grades and Degrees to the height advancing. And the golden dawn and the glory glancing Far and away to the secret shrine
!
II
There
shall be
no more
sea,
they say,
the Bride.
Shall earth then lose her sacraments of tide Motion, measures tremendous, echoing far and long and Glister, ring of an endless song ?
sparkle
glow,
words prophetic, ye princes and priests attend This is the Quest's end promised, the marvellous end Of all our voyage and venture since time began.
;
To
And
the Quest for ever the sea's voice calleth man ; this in a mystery-world, by only the side-light
is
and an end
:
is
spoken
All over that vibrant main Of the Quest for ever it tells, of the ends and
gain.
1
dooms
to
the half-light early, I vest myself in haste over highway and byway, the fielded land and the pass waste As much as a man may prosper, all eager I climb and go
rise in
;
For
this
receive
crown.
130
How I Came
To
and fro
in the search I
to
the
Sea
bid
hurry, and
some men
me
narrate
What means
Not
this fever,
I
their help
as yet they
wait
know of
And
Stop
others,
my
brothers, the
me and
ask.
What news
forth
watchword utter'd from over the harbour bar? And above the light swift music of all its fleeting joys The world spreads daily through length and breadth, the great Quest's rumour and noise. Who sought it first, who longest, and who has attain'd almost ? All this in town and in village its heralds proclaim and
a louder
Or
post
But the sun goes down and the night comes on for a space to quench endeavour, While star after star through the spaces far shew the track of the Quest for ever
!
Ill
But
still,
And
hush and the haunting, I stand, even I, the shore, by the sea in the sunshine crooning pervades me with
in the
it
deep unrest, speaks of the Quest, of the Quest With a torrent of tongues in a thousand tones
For
And
a far-off^
murmur
Amen,
A
To
found
Or
search the soul with such deep unrest, to speak of the Quest
So
plainly.
lies
Then
And
surely thither the Quest's way a man shall not err therein ;
Yet not on the surface surely seen with eyes. For thence the swallow has come and thereon the
sea-
mew
And
flies
the haunting ships with tremulous sails, we learn, For ever about it hover, pass to their place and return ; And over the wastes thereof the tempests ravage and
burn, the sea-spouts spin. But not of these is the Quest In the deep, in the deep it lies
Or
Ah,
let
me
plunge therein
silent,
and the
halls
of the
No
hill.
And
seaman, sailing East and West rover when he goeth over the dappled down and road But a man may better remain in his own abode Who is vow'd to the wonderful end which crowns the
sail,
horse
for
the
For
sail
The
Quest and compass, and coach and steed and the rest, king's highway, and the beaten track, and the great
;
sea-road
Are
these the
way of
the Quest
132
(To-morrow
I
is
sacramental
hymn.
Enough
me vaguely
with meanings
Enough
that
its
withheld
While, far through the depth and the echoing halls of the soul Reply to the roar and the roll, Themselves in the mystery-tongue, All the world over sung.
darkness, the
the sibyl awaking from dream In oracles hints at the theme That has never been spoken or spell'd.
As
Am
I
must confess
To
How
who
wast Lucifer
still
And all God's world bears testimony To the dark power of thy perverted
will.
O, in the days when, first by light renew'd, I found all Nature and her life endued With blessed sacraments, at bed and board
The
uncreated beauty
adored
133
Through
glitter'd and gave out and high promise, which compell'd Deep meaning At once all avenues of sense. I held
galaxied about
flint,
Sought God conceal'd in every mystery-hint. Too soon, as if on moonless nights like this. All the right order of the world we miss
as a
man
his
storm surprises in the waste astray Black aspects of the sacramental scheme Are thrust in roughly on our mystic dream,
;
Whom
way,
And
baleful presence and a sign of shame ; That in the great hierarchic chant of things.
One
And when
our mystic nourishment we take. That some cups poison which our thirst should slake.
To thee, O Lucifer, for our own woe, Are many sacraments reserved, I know, And many likewise in life's holy place Are set for worship as a sign of grace
!
Thy baptisms of water and of fire. Thine ordinations and thine unctions dire
Hast thou, and
efficacies
strange subsist.
With a Where
Thou
Who
Thou too hast many priests within the pale Of thy communion, licensed to dispense Thy mystic treasures and when men go hence,
;
All seal'd and fortified with thy last rites, How oft they pass expecting thy delights, And the good things which thou hast stored to see Longing they look and fall asleep in thee.
134
How
in those
Is like a wall
about
us,
everywhere
With life our life environs, and in them. As the hills stand around Jerusalem,
God
hidden, in
With Came
all ages and all lands, a great power about his people stands. this invasion of the evil sign ?
in vain
and
seers divine
The old-world
And
strive to tell
Break up the answering words and form again. must confess where no one can explain must confess at least who speak in song ; know that mischief and misrule and wrong Befell the garden of the soul's content. We know not what laid waste its fair extent, What fill'd the springs with bitterness, or broke The music up, and to such sad-eyed folk. Haunted with memories of some former sin, Turn'd those who once abode in joy therein. Yet many fruits and many flowers are left, Nor is the garden of all lights bereft.
We We We
Sacred to incense
And
Nor, Master, yet so densely intervene The flaming clouds of any sunset scene. That cloud or light can veil Thee or make known So being mindful of our star and throne All attestations of desire and awe. Thy words flame-written on the soul, her law And that great longing wherewith all are bent To get behind the veil of sacrament We do believe, past every veil and gate,
That
to the centre
we
shall penetrate,
Which
And
ns
PART
II
"
signaiomnium
ati
apparenttum,
finemn00trumperfectam,inlumine1ieimcreata,
in mgsterio signato inetCabile."
De Concordia
Dei
et
yinima.
enamouring word. vestments or far-flashing gems king's diadems. The cups of the tall-springing lilies confuse With white maidens' faces, moist-eyed, while the dews Shine ghostlike and pallid on mist-breathing grass.
faint the
Where pearl-sprinkled sandals fall light as they pass. The maid's trailing garments glide softly and raise
Such
light stir as June in her slumberous days Permits to low zephyrs, with pauses between Lest they wanton too long with the leaf's silver sheen Some cooing dove murmurs in languorous elms Of the dream and the dreamer in reverie's realms.
willow-sweet maidens What maidens are these, in the moonlight and honey-lipp'd breeze Old voices grow faint, from the summit they fall Your measures enchant me, I come at your call.
!
Curd-white
.^
faint
grow
drum
I
white maidens,
come
Ah,
stay
me
with
lilies,
The
nearness and
Dissolving the sacred, inviolate state Which I shared with the dwellers outside of your gate By a superincession fantastical, sweet,
1
am merged
in the
maids of
this
shadow'd retreat
one,
they, neither
many nor
the
warmth from
139
Book of Mystery
and
Visio?i
The King
Sleeps
Within the charm'd walls is a place of delight, And a world from its windows shines strange to the In the pomp of deep night and high glory of day.
sight,
Where the long golden prospects stretch shining away. With pennons and banners the pageants pass by,
And
The
And
the crash of their music goes up to the sky centre and shrine is this paradise fair. crown'd midst his maidens the monarch is there.
:
wrapp'd
And
How
Of
But
all about by a ministry blest the intimate sense of the garden of rest, vague are the legends, the memories dim
!
An
the King's distant country surviving for him a hint in the stars, but a voice in the wind, echo of canticles lost to the mind,
Welling up from the depths in the sea's organ voice, Bear witness how far he has err'd in his choice.
In the garden are stairways and turrets and towers ; 'Tv/as spring when he enter'd, and sweet were the flowers The maidens sang ballads, how blithe to the heart All bells rang the nuptials of Nature and Art ; And the world to the walls in high carnival came,
!
faces aflame. Bright eyes full of rapture, bright But what of that moaning when music is still'd That ache in the pause which no pageant has fiU'd
The garden
It
is
summertide now and the earth is all love ; Those maids in full chorus sing jubilant odes A glory abides in the vistas and roads. O high the emprizes and high the renown. But the King hath his maidens, the King hath his crown Now, what of the whispers which hint in his sleep ?
;
Do
Do
140
eyes never
weep
.?
A
The garden
the time
has sycamores stately and old ; rich autumn ; these leaves are
in
Round maids
But
a mist looking mournful envelopes With a voice full of loss falls the wave
Lone horsemen
Cold
ride hurriedly far through the land sleet against windows beats heavy and drives
On
the overblown blooms and the bees' ravish'd hives. All voice In that garden dies down in a dirge, And the King hath his sorrow to crown him and scourge.
Far, far through the
windows
old,
his vision
is
strain'd
Save in sense of illusion and measureless loss So the weary wayfarer goes dragging his cross O'er the stones of the road to the hills out of reach. Where storms utter faintly their ominous speech. 'Mid the ghosts of the maidens, in vain let him roam, And remember at last how he strayed from his home
Deep
The King is a-cold, with the snows on his head Through the rime on the windows forth-looking sees he The dearth and the dark when the glory should be. Where now are the stars and the altitude keen.
;
in the shining
demesne,
With fellowships lofty, reserved to adorn That secret pageant and state inborn ? The heart cannot dream it, though hearts may Nor a way of attainment the eye discern
;
yearn,
But
For
the
Knows
that
King in his garden, of all bereft, which was priceless for this was
left
The
Place of that Vision whence Kings descend. So over the desolate, lonely road Dim thoughts strain forth from his waste abode, And hope for a herald with tidings sent From the land withdrawn of the soul's content
;
141
A
For
a
Book of Mystery
and
;
Visio7i
beacon speaking the darkness through light beyond and the further blue Past all sea-cries, for a distant tone From the royal realm which was once his own.
Of the
The
When
The
will they
come
him
Falls there a
gleam on
his
wasting garden is Far has the King of the garden gone Whither he travels and what may chance
;
!
Whether Whether
Where
Who
The
restored from the lifelong trance, to tarry in exile far other illusive gardens are
shall acquaint us
He
that
knows
one true place for a King's repose. And, long though he travel the outward track, That the King came forth and the King goes back.
CLAVIS ylBSCONDITORUM
Therefore, perchance, at a time assign'd Some key to the mystery Kings may find. Why maidens five in a garden dwell And Kings delude by their potent spell. Peace on the King through his ways attend ; Ail things lead him to reach his end Stars be his pathway and suns his track, For the King comes forth and the King goes back
;
Epilogue
Ballad of maidens white to see^ All are spelling thy mystery ; Faint is the music and low the tone
Lead
us
still,
lead us
to
reach our
own
142
THE BLESSED
LIFE OF SORCERY
ARGUMENTUM MIRABILE
Voice and the Word proclaim, but the outward Voice
may
In song
fail,
psalter the numbers falter redeem the tale may Hear therefore why, from a losing quest, In a place of spells I dream'd of rest, And there had thought to remain But a lone star rose on the heart's repose, And it drew me to quest again.
and
yet
hint
Proem
Short the distance and smooth the road, Not too far from a man's abode
it
far
and nigh
The Prose
Where never
a sense of the world beyond
the soul bewitch'd intrudes, But to soft spells only is sense in bond.
On
And,
Where
Or
Perchance unfriendly, at least unknown Picture the bliss and the vision alone Here let me anchor a stranded boat,
143
A
And
I
my
sails are
rent
The mast
I
the rudder is bent. splinter'd have been where billows their might expend
pitiless walls at
On
But
turret or
1
Found
Seized
the known world's end, window or hand extended none when the quest was ended,
icy blast o'er the pathless track toss'd me, and drove me back.
While an
me and
Here the
air is
heavy with
spells
sky overflowing the soft charm spills loving litany breathes round wavering hills And faintly chimes in the bosks from floral bells, Or sighs in a veil on the surface of tarns and wells.
a
;
From
Melt
in
shadows
Of
Far off the
haunted
dells.
glister
How
And And
far,
how
of shining surf looks white ; soften'd comes the roll of the open sea
is
hush'd as a wind
caught hidden in thickets and traps which mazy leaves have wrought, Or talismanic figures of flowers that none can name But the nameless mystic people It moves in tongues of fire on vane and steeple, On crumbling towers in pageants of auburn flame.
of the afternoon
is
144
Hark
lawn,
The
wain by a silent team with its harvest-load is drawn. Though the road may rise or fall And only shadow'd figures slip past through the ravish'd
silent
;
land,
For ever wearing the dreamful einn look And ever the wondering guise of him who has heard the
faerie call.
But
yet,
theme
uplifted.
;
With
From The
subtle, mastering melody suddenly fills the air the midst of a secret centre, suddenly rifted,
Through every leaf and blade of grass is As over the strings of its instrument The Sweeping, sweeping, sweeping.
sent.
earth,
with
its
volume
Is a
stored.
And
The
of
women
are
faces
of strange enchanted
flowers.
Giving forth fragrance of incense and sounds of flutes on the deep, In the sweetest, stillest, and gravest charm of the tardy hours And the children are blossoms in bud, which smile in the light, and sleep. White lilies, pallid and pure, in a shimmering cloud of
;
pearls.
Are the
VOL.
I.
145
A
There
ruddy roses of eager and splendid boys, lissom of limb, tan-faced, full of glories and joys. Heavy, yet Their moist lips full and intense.
are royal,
Well over with rippling speech Yet a strange transfusion of sex and form and sense Swims undeveloped in each
; ;
And
all
the
men
in
the land, if
men
be a part of the
scheme.
Walk through
dream.
holy, holy, holy, wild-sweet to the ear and eye, Is the Blessed Life and the Haunted Life in the Land of
Sorcery
Will
I not dwell in these ways for evermore } Breathe harps and all ye strings in a world of strings. With every voice in a world of voice and choir. Breathe over sea and shore
Lowly and faintly and fading far away. With a sudden tremor and hint of all unspeakable things. As of dusk in the heart of the fire Lowly and faintly and fading far away, Over the senses breathe till the senses swim
;
Chant
in the dells
Standing at Of the world's delight, from the pleasant In the missal of Faerie
!
and dingles, among the groups so dim. anthem, litany, hymn footpath ends
rite
The anthems swell and never a chord is lost. The light of the Vision floats for ever around. And a perfect peace of the heart, by an anxious thought
uncross'd
Of the
Blessed Life
mist
is
found.
falls in a
On
fields
opal and amethyst and meadows and hills in the Land of Sorcery. 146
Of
How
At evening
One Offered
Envoy
Inceitse
fell through the lilac and gloom, gloaming But a voice fell with it, meseem'd, in the midst of that choric spell, on the sorcery craft and bloom, And, stilling the pulse of a thousand strings,
Said
Sails
may
fail
take wings
;
Then suddenly out of the land withdrew The savour, the music, the scent, the hue
A
I
curtain of darkness droop'd from the sky On the Blessed Life of Sorcery.
star in the distance sings
That
and sings
have burn'd my ships, but I come with wings O'er the wall at the world's end, eyes of pity Shine on the quest for the Mystic City.
HOW ONE
Just where the
OFFERED INCENSE
its
edge.
On
Is a
Or
And beyond
In the
the copse
is
a quickset
hedge.
But this is the brow of the hill. Over the hillside climbs the wheat
August sun like a golden tide It washes over the whole hillside. Except for a narrow and tortuous track Left for the passage of hardy feet. Far down a little bridge looks black, Spanning a stream which chimes and tinkles, Leaps in the sunlight, sparkles and twinkles. Rolls its smooth white pebbles, and sprinkles Crisp green turf upon either hand. Further again is the rising land,
147
Book of Mystery
and
;
Visio7t
Draped in the sunlight gorgeously But climb you over that further slope, For a splendid stretch of the sky's blue cope Bends to the West, and the breeze comes thence. Over the low plain, keen and intense Rife with rumour of riot and rout Salted and strong from the sea far out.
To To
Till
Over the
watch the sunset smoulder and burn surf-line, churn'd and creamy see the mists on the plain assemble,
dotted lamps of the inns dissemble
fullest light
it's
The
Their
really night
To see the sky turn mauve and dreamy And so many stars in the dark a-tremble To hear the anthem roll of the main
And
the strong response of a seawind's strain Take your stand on the further height ; But for real magic 'twixt eve and night,
And
a speculation strange
and deep
For the edge of the woodland cover and brake. Over the clearing, high and far,
You
Trees, in the dubious light convoked, Stand, like mystas muffled and cloak'd ; And lone in the midst of the lonely glade To the cubical stone which no hand has made, Shalt thou in the border twilight bring If thou hast the gift of soul to bear
As an outward
glimpse of the secrets of earth and air sign of the heart's desire, little Thy parcel of sacred fire And an incense-pot for an offering.
148
How
May
Say that the
One Offered
smoke
Inceitse
he who has offer'd his incense tell Of something which follows this kind of spell
will rise
and spread,
Making a nimbus round one's head, While glade and bush through the vaporous mist Take shapes uncertain, which writhe and twist.
The
And
The
sky looks marshlike, the star is dim, the air, which haply is moist and damp, Seems to cling close, or just to swim ;
And
dying lamp. unbidden into the cloud, is hidden. Passing change comes over the face of things. And twixt the sense of a soul alone And the subtle hint of invisible wings. Tense expectation thrills and swings ; Till suddenly welling and surging round, Down from the welkin and up from the ground. From common motion and sight and sound Isolated and terribly free, The sense of a thing which is all unknown Shapes in a moment and pierces thee.
the
coal
glows dull
like a
moss-grown
altar-stone,
Scatter the coals, for the rite is done Go to the hillside one by one
Number the stones on the downward way Note how the wheat-ears bend and sway
;
Get with haste to the village and choose The tavern which most the yokels use Or hang on the bridge till one comes near
;
With
You
a light step and a listening ear. have touch'd as close as one rite may reach To that which lies undeclared behind The things of Nature and things of mind Out of vision, exceeding speech And it isn't intended that men should get fuller glimpse of the secret yet.
149
A
Than
Book of Mystery
and
Vision
Meanwhile it shews you that this life's scheme Has more of omen and sign and dream
enters into the hearts of those cannot the inner eyes unclose ; And that after all the life of man Is shaped on a sacramental plan ; That all the light which he gets is clouded Because of the manifold veils between ; The truth which he seeks to clasp is shrouded And thus the beauty he longs for seen. Yet truth and beauty and light exist, And the sign is bright and the umbrage mist. The border twilight melts at times, And through the twilight or over the verge
Who
Gleams from beyond do at times emerge Meaning of sorrow and sense of song.
second import of runes and rhymes, seed of right at the core of wrong, And in many legends and mystic tales rumour of what is behind the veils.
The The
NoTA Bene
Is surely good as a charcoal fire And the hearty I think that we all
may own.
;
Is as
much an
may
well
Be
And for
And
aspiration s transforming spell. shades and forests and woodland dew^ With the lone stars lustre sifting through.
all other things that Vve been telling. Choose any corner in your own dwelling.
150
a thought from sight evasive hidden, Of signs which stand for a sense unseen The little signs and the worlds they mean
word
But an arch
so old
and
sward so green,
a
tawny
light
arch unbidden.
of the amber beam and gleam Gleam, dream, glory The honey-bee hums in the hawthorn hedge. The wild rose slumbers on plinth and ledge, And over the wide world's sapphire edge The rich ripe corn of the world is roU'd,
In the
rich stream
!
warm
As rocks
The
in its laver the burning gold. whirr of the wings of the doves goes by, a singing bird hangs in the flame of the sky is the scent of the wheat and dry
;
down
petal falls from the rose's crown ; Soft on the soft sward falls and reposes.
As
swooning
roses.
in
;
But the doves come forth and the doves go Here in a low flight circle and spin Over and under the arch and out,
And
in,
Wheel and
And
pleasant the chirp of the grasshopper ; Motion, melody, scent are kin. And the doves come forth and the doves go
in.
151
A
The
second sense on a day like this, Meseems, a moment the mind may miss, Midst incense, music and lights content With the outward grace of the sacrament. Therefore for once of mere doves in flight
the
rhymes begin
come
in.
and the coming in doves through an arch unbidden ? Oj Do I not know that the whence and where
within,
But
the life of man may he symholVd there ? in light so bright and on sward so fair let what is hidden be hidden!
Too grandly built to crumble or incline The soul baptizing gave them holy names They flourish'd, they were mine.
At
first,
all
goodly aims,
;
:
glorified the world for glory's praise In camps and courts and colleges I shook.
And
my
schemes
took
;
With sounding
But night and
feet, all
ways.
silence fall
And
my
breast
One
The
rose^ sun-down glory and all tinctured flame and the trump offame ; but the rose and the star shall fall/
^
Perchance,
Is
found
life
in
And my
her
All
art,
So
and forth brought Strange begotten but not made, to fill The world with beauty and the canvas taught Beauty, and teaches still.
artist,
life,
;
became an
Rich wert thou, world, in that imperial time, By art transfigured and that art mine own But far withdrawn I found one frozen clime Within me, bleak and lone.
Soul blessed
is
is
when
He
lived only
thereoj
Dirge-laden winds along the waters sweep ; E'en storms are chanted when the light flows back Light leaps the carol zephyr, and the deep Follows a flute-note's track.
;
So up creation's scale the seeker takes His search, and music's rapture fills the world But discord inly finds a thousand snakes
In those sweet
numbers
curl'd.
Bowl
oj ill^ slowly fill ; acrid cup be filVd I vacant glance in a tongueless trance!
And
the
empty
soul is stilVd !
^S3
And marshes where the bittern will And seas accursed where never tide is And wastes which know not sky
!
But
if to utter
if relief
And
Free breath
what wonder
relief,
in the
word of
?
grief
Was
The
of the soul reborn a poet, and I wed wondrous meaning to the metre's
I
roll.
And
Then
life
interpreted
the outward life of man and beast, " " Transmuting, turn'd to something rich and strange Till a new Eos rose in a new East, O'er earth of broader range.
all
The Blessed Vision at the gates abode The pageant pass'd in every leafy lane The Quest was heard upon the open road
;
room
ghostly presences An empty place which never in the gloom One form divine exhaled.
Cross comes
^
Where
sit
loss
comes
thus
is
A A
to bless,
The
Saving Host
raised.
154
Lord Christ
All
men saw angels tarrying in the street, The rush of white wings over all the land
where the wicked city's pulses beat The Kingdom was at hand.
as
And
But
from lonely
fortress, high-erect.
Commanding wastes unmeasured, lone and grey, And acrid further waters scarcely fleck'd
With
1
Kingdom
stretch within.
Where
pass'd
sin.
Or
chrism to consecrate.
soul,
it
Dark
So
let
hark !
all
jade^ about !
a
vain 'parade
wrap
King in my despair There fell a glamour upon earth and sea, While starry banners blazon'd all the air,
:
made myself
And men
The
said
it is
He
Sabbath splendour of the Prince of Peace Fell on deliver'd nations bending low ; All Nature chanted for her heart's release
Grand Antiphons
in
O.
:
Great state and golden age and glorious dower No King of Kings had ever reign'd till then Yet I alone, in that tremendous hour, mendicant of men
Quail not, fail not. Soul, in thy rayless room ! Fair when they rise are the shapes and. eyes, as the
faces pass in the gloom !
Come
Who
No
forth, thou giver, of all gifts bereft. healest all save thine own dread disease
is
left
Much didst thou manifest be nov7 withdrawn Much didst thou brighten now thyself inweave
;
Still in
is
scarlet
dawn,
Nor
Open, ye
gates,
and open,
!
portals, wide,
Let the dreamer through Green world and sea-world, past all shore and tide
So
became
Mine
Stars in
a prince in Faerie Land ; the weird rite and mine the potent spell.
lilies in
my crown and
feet
my
hand,
And
I
on asphodel.
was the Vision and the Eye that sees. The blazon'd symbol and its inmost drift, The Quest, the Seeker and the Bourne of these, The Giver and the Gift.
But when
pageant tattered and the place unkempt Vague quests ill foUow'd, by no path defined, Gifts with no grace to tempt.
The
all must be night and storm ; Sink not, think 7iot To sweeter motion subsides the ocean, and flowers into
light
and form.
156
A
So thence
Portion of
My
Inheritance
I pass'd, outside all elfin reach, snatch prerogatives and powers which yield, Far past the compass of theurgic speech,
To
Worlds of
1
all
dread conceal'd.
saw the gods which Julian saw of eld, And after others which we name not now Except with incense-worship, and beheld Light on the Father's brow.
Ah, woe
is
me
To
see
O'er Christ's white throne bend down, yet not to die And the great masters in the Holy Place
How
this dim world restored, doors I stand, a man reprieved ; By temple The broken bread, which kindly hands accord, With bended head received.
God
bless the givers and the gifts make blest. this sacrament withheld before, Deliver'd hardly from a life's unrest,
For by
My
soul
is
dead no more.
A PORTION OF MY INHERITANCE
One
day agone, one weariful,
faded light.
cool.
!
One day of
Of shade that chill'd but could not Of blister'd bloom and blight
May-day, fay-day,
Till they lured
all
my
lady fond
A
A
the stars have shed night agone All light in tears if that be dew, 'Tis meet, since she bewray'd is fled, That light of verdure follow too venom in the damp distils The long, enchanted lawn exhales
!
One
An
acrid
odour
hemlock
;
fills
The wingless air it dulls and stills The busy murmur of the vales, The quicken'd sense which haunts the
hills
And
Ave^ Ave!
Voices come and go; Baneful, painful, breathing far and low" "
Esclairmonde
no
light
is
The sun
Softness and
Till
all is
And
from May to
May
is
near.
sere
May-day, fay-day, all the spring turn'd When they brought to Esclairmonde Smoking censers from beyond.
incense swells All the dying dales and dells Echo still with tinkling bells.
Portion of
;
My
;
Inheritance
One year agone and Nature bleeds The sap of life from every vein The mould is over-rich the seeds Have rotted an unwholesome stain Makes lepers of the strongest weeds The hemlock only blooms again,
; ; ;
And sickly, fungous growths possess The monstrous boles of pining trees
The
nightshade at the air's caress Feeds with more poison these.
all
Lightly, brightly,
light,
Pomp
away
enthrall'd
so
vow
That
dusk and ghostly mean Eventide and night between Thy sweet face v/as peering forth
In the
Wipes the
tears
And though
Shall
never
that
human
man
159
art
;
elfin heart
And no words
can spell
hell,
Far beyond Choir and incense gone before And the banners evermore Dripping with the dreary mist.
They who draw thee know They are lonely, they persist
not
why
When
Seldom human
Follow
fast
They
seek the elfin track Not to bear thy semblance back, Since the ghost-world, woe is me,
And
And
Esclairmonde, Homeless, haunted, pass'd beyond, Wraiths are in the world alone
Esclairmonde
Where
Thus,
mournful ghost,
take
Woe
of mine from bower to brake, From brake to sodden mead, and see.
And
With fantastic plunge and twist. Looming strangely in the mist. As thy pale ghost by maidens three
Evermore removes from me.
Passing every house of rest, Pass'd love's gateway of the blest>
1
60
And
far into
dim
lands beyond
;
The march of muffled music steals The incense vista curls and reels The low chant dieth far beyond
;
bells,
spells.
ghost behind, a ghost before, Falls woe on both for evermore, O Esclairmonde Esclairmonde
!
LA VIE INTIME
THE FIRST SCROLL
A BOW OF PROMISE
O
So
BRIGHT between the South and West That wonder fled before
!
The woof
spurr'd my russet steed ; disclosed a thousand eyes Now grope I, dark in need.
I
rode upon a palfrey white, white than milk was he And his white garments gave strange light Of golden broidery.
He
More
Strange rhymes from witch-lips fiU'd the glade And ballad-music stirr'd ;
Rain spangles, hung from leaf and blade, Shook bells at every word. L l6l VOL. I.
follow fast follow far he cried follow fleet Betwixt the sunset and the star
!
!
see the
ways divide
mine
The casements
And when
For
this
white hands a wine-cup hold Set close thy mouth and pass.
is the key of the convent door. that which the cup conceals, him who crosses the convent floor,
And
To
Another
Farewell
life reveals.
all knightly life of earth, the gold key in thy hand Magic measures, music, mirth, Quests and gestes of Faerie Land
With
Farewell the wassail and the bowl, When the gold cup is drain'd To quench the thirst it brings the soul Hath never man attain'd.
!
gaze
And
Which
watch the steep upwinding ways lead from a world of sin 162
;
La
Vie Intime
From the world of sin and joy they lead, By a fasting waste without Through ways of weed, from the green sweet mead.
;
To
And
How
When
And
With At
the ways divide in the saffron light flame in the West leap'd red. And the Key from the rainbow burnish'd bright Slipp'd out, as the rainbow fled.
Where
In a music-waft the air gave up, From God's most holy place,
White
The witch-boy
round my The witch-boy croon'd and the witch-boy keen'd We sprang into faerie ground.
He
drew
With
bow
Sprang over and spilt its dyes. And a sex-change swift, with the gaudy flow, Forth leap'd in his eager eyes.
Ye
wist
knew what
lips
My
Nor
birth-cross saved
163
A
O
On
the light, light play of the naked fire, face and limbs transform'd, In the glowing dawn of a red desire. As the pulse-beats swelter'd and swarm'd.
At
The
nameless
rites
of an
elfin
bed
me
ran,
And
only the soul of the open sea Dwelt in my father, a rover free.
a secret place
And
look'd me, a young child, in the face, Till all the natural world became pageant unstable as smoke and flame. Sunsets faded and stars went out, But, pressing me closer round and about
the common modes by which man Another order and rite commenced. In quiet garden and market town Strange processions went up and down In dusky corners and rooms secluded Warm arms encircled and lips intruded
Than
is
fenced,
164
La
Or
if in
Vie Intime
There was no river so high, so clear, But a face not mine would there appear
plunged therein kiss'd me which seem'd like sin ; Something And hands which never could lift to bless me Up through the cool depths came to caress me. Over the edge of the world astray, How swift I pass'd from the world away To see those sights of glory and joy, Alike forbidden to man or boy, In a place so pale with an eye so dim,
I
summer
never the fairies come to him. Yet the light had something of autumn's shine, And the blush of the leaf in its last decline, But the sights if seen by an angel's eyes
Had
Had
lost
him
And
taken from Nature's arms. taught so early on secret charms To nourish the innocent heart's desire } To fan the flame of a fervent fire Under the eyes, at the lips of those Whose kisses are more than Nature knows, Whose arts far down in the scale of things Are sweets full of poison and mortal stings
Why
was
Ah, but a melody faint at times Drown'd for a little those drowsy rhymes
Which
Where
unknown
been seen
!
Over the
man
!
between Poppies and wormwood slipp'd O eyes unsated and grey with want O hearts inhuman, of fire the font shameless bodies and eager faces,
!
With human
165
A
E'en
of bliss denied was the bridegroom and who the bride He who hath seen your arms extended Shall know of a hunger and need unended.
Who
but in Faerie
all
Fell the great longing to reach your cry Not under Nature's rule returning.
went and carried my yearning. For he that strays from her realm in vain
I
Forth
May
Where dwelt
the natural world to nought Brings what the heart and the eyes have sought, That have look'd on things to our eyes forbidden, Surely a place of peace is hidden Surely that mystic voice which sings Of the Sacred City and its secret things,
if
!
far,
star,
Forth from the great delusion leading, Carries the heart with a hope exceeding, Where, in the light of all light descried. One shall be bridegroom and one the bride
i66
La
Vie In time
Ah! whither now shall one bewray'd, Through listless paths and wrack
Of
way back
The
Warm
And
The swooning
Landscape and seascape far and near Are voiceless, void and grey Thought sets as moon, if moon were here, Where two eves make one day.
;
This pallid screen, which hangs between All-kindling heaven and earth. Can bring no purpose fair and clean to birth. In sodden light
worn way and the lorn way. And the way that never ends,
the
Where
the light
is
as the night
!
is,
The shapes of all things form and fade, With outlines vague and strange
;
Where
167
A
Is
Book of Mystejy and Vision And the male rose blooms like the maiden And the maid like the man appears
: !
rose
it God know'Snight or noon in the sky ? But the dark mist flows with tears
Body and ghost are spectres pale, Shadow and substance fuse in one,
The back-view
Who
knoweth of
fail-
Mind cannot think, nor sad heart dream, Maim'd by the dreary spell. Whence none can issue, by road or stream Take the woodland, try the dell
;
Who shall sail and who shall steer Who shall spur the flagging steed
?
ways
weed
?
for a bolt
from heaven to
!
fall,
For
The
1
The
yearn for the rainbow's farther side I dream of the golden key
!
And
The convent
I
gate and the heights untrod In a silent world of ice ask but to gaze on the hand of God
!
As
it
shuts
me from
i68
Paradise.
La
A A A A A
O
faint light shining for a space ; breath of wind upon the face ; stirring in the mist ; a sigh ; sense of distance, height and sky little wave of melody but how beautiful to see
!
The light leaf dance upon the tree, The bloom upon a hedgerow stirr'd By transport of a singing bird, And after darkness and eclipse The sun upon the sails of ships, All up and down the dancing sea O but how beautiful to hear
A A A
A
little whisper in the ear, smaller voice than note of bird, still small voice, a mighty word,
whisper
in
That God is not so far away And when the torpid soul is
stirr'd,
voices of all the worlds are heard, all the world's lights come and kiss
sleeping soul to waking bliss, While joy of new-found life and hours Bursts everywhere into dews and flowers Dews and flowers and fragrance sweet, In the month of May, with her light feet
The promise of fuller scent and Under the florid lips of June
;
tune
And
All
among
The
When August
Out of darkness and sorcery, Out of the spell and the mystery, As a mother with accents mild,
Nature has
call'd
From
She has taken him for a little while Into the refuge of her smile, Until from one of her far-off heights Peak that glisters or gleaming star Some hand shall kindle the greater lights,
Shall point to a
As As
it
And
it
pathway leading straight. might seem, to the convent gate. into a different world of spell.
might be, led by a convent bell Gently over the hill-tops ringing. From the star and over the peak. And over the peak and beyond the star. Comes voice, or chorus, or cosmos singing Of one thing needful which, time out of
mind. All worlds over, the nations seek. And past all worlds shall the nations
find.
By which
From
spells
of
night.
And taking humbly, as best I may, To the convent gate my pilgrim way
If by a chance that key should slip From another rainbow into a glade.
And
what
And O where
Or having
Will
I
lip,
the key of the convent door, not stand on that sacred floor,
170
Up
But
height
that over the void untrod found for the soul with wings, When the last true path to the summit brings, And far though they shine from the peaks of ice,
know
way
shall be
THE
KING'S
RENDERING
A TRANSCRIPT
the great Telesma of the sun flame inform'd the torrid zone. And summer's heavy heat possess'd the air With spelJs successively of rapture, great day of bland Strange longing, ardour dim.
And happy
parable was 'blazon'd round With symbols matron Nature teeming, rich, In such tide I left Full-lipp'd and yielding. house of dreams and forth I fared alone My
Into the splendid sacramental world. Where, all the sacramental veils dissolved.
The Corpus
heat light flamboyant and flaming Christi feast of earth and sea.
So holy foUow'd
When
Have Now,
lips
of
spirit
upon
spirit lips
and tasted rapture, unity. the hush'd night other morn has broken
kiss'd
;
171
Book of Mystery
;
and
Vision
Hath surely pass'd without that house of dreams Midmost within the city I pause, and know
What wonder
and high truth of all the world All dream is done Stands at the doors and knocks. He then shall hear who will a rich device The quest and pageant of the coming King
All
in the little
Hear ye the pleasant bells which stir in sleep With muffled cadences and whisper'd chimes Those twin yews, Files past the fair procession
!
feeling,
That
All tremulous, as
For
And
night we rode to save the town. overtaking ever and anon Belated market-waggons, saw, aroused
in the
And
wonderstruck,
great Graal's glad light encompassing Fair horses plunging, steaming in the light ;
scared
how
yokels heavy-eyed
that goodly train
in vision
go by,
;
Vast banners streaming, swirling, taken past By Gilead winds the King of all the world So in my heart I hail'd my heart's dear lord
;
Rex quondam
futurus rex his great white horse with reverend mien Riding Behind the holy vessel, set about With sweetness and with savour. Next in place.
ille et
Of
but still an ancient man, sword-bearer came ; Excalibur King's Lay keen in sheath, the sharp quick light thereof, Like unto thirty torches, the red gold Inscription round it, ray'd on every side, 172
erect
mien
The
The King
And And
all
Rencieri?tg
haft transfigured.
Where crooked willows trembled, crouch'd and The windy rookery swaying in the old
;
Elm-tops the narrow bridge a shallow pool Below it shining faintly and across The little remnant of the open heath Dotted with pointed tents all white and ghostly; Past old decaying houses shrouded deeply In ivy thicker than the walls which bore it Past windows dim, with dainty blinds drawn close and past the creaking sign In little villas the great roads enter from the West Whereby
;
An
Of
that
mute
still
we drew
to this
of waggons, steaming slowly, shew'd Forth-hanging guards and drivers eager-eyed, Awestruck and crying.
train
Thereat
:
I fell
to
dream
What wonder in the city of the King, When the King came into his own what joy Among the common people, when the King
Stood manifest
:
what poets should come out To meet him with what lights should altars blaze What flowers be strewn what bells and bells peal
:
: :
forth
What
merchants, councillors and princes haste To proffer homage and what peace in all What putting by of sorrow and of shame
:
: :
What
By pardon
what sins what wounds made whole What sudden change in heart and hope of all.
goodness raised to sanctity
purified
:
173
Thereafter pass'd the pictures of the quest ; The inception's fever and high colouring Kindled its fires within me, going out From the great city through those long green lanes, By a free way, far stretch'd into the West. Came too the pain of doubt, the questioning. The aching sense of loneness and of loss. Faring through mournful marshes where the mist At sunset flamed with a dull ruddy light, Which after ever in the moonlight turn'd
To
The
rolling seas.
Again, distraught,
plaint of plovers ; heard the bitterns cry Strangely, with breasts and wings incarnadined.
Flocking and flying towards the falling sun. And further still, descending steep hillsides, I saw below me the forest tree-tops sweep, Bending and crashing before the risen wind, Spelling out wild reverberant messages.
Through fields of bearded barley, fields of rye, Through winding byways all among tall ripe wheat. Still faring forward many a morning after;
of lush hedgerows, growth of bank and ditch. in the drowsy heat and harvest wealth Right of early autumn sunshine Scented and songful
life
The
rich disorder'd
By
circling,
birr
and buzz
174
Set in tide-isolated light-house towers Seem'd to flash watchwords through the infinite
But
after, in the
Of
Bell-like, far-echoing, caroll'd along the coast Sea voices taking shape, as soul's take flesh.
Scattered light music, breath'd between the songs Sweet little words of prophecy, soft words
Of
Then
promise, high resounding words of hope. all the landscapes and the seascapes merged In world of dream, the hills abode in light
;
Down streaming from the gold-bright city above All visible realities assumed richer tincture, an uplifted type And in the human side of earthly things
A
A
its
mystery
farms.
Even
So swept the path of quest into a place Of very sacrament and mystery. Vested in samite strange ships glided down
Sea-ways, full-tided, swirling, glisterful ; The odour and the spicery of the world Hung over all the shore ; high mystic chants Swept and re-echoed through the haunted air, Telling of Aromat and the Holy Cup. There fell the subtle hint of perilous quests
On turrets dimly seen between old trees, On moated manors mouldering far away From all frequented roads. Unlook'd for Of strange encounter open'd out in bosks,
175
glades
A
Old
Where steaming summer draws rich humid From yielding leaf-mould in waste places
chapels,
rose
set therein
;
Were less for worship than for vision's gifts The reverence of high feasting rang throughout The sparged and censed extent of castle halls
;
on lawns by power of words White doves flew past with golden censers borne In bills anointed, from their choric wings Spread wide expanding measured melody Children in sacred vestments went before,
Pavilions rose
;
With From
That
sacred lights, far-shining priest-like men those far countries which are reached by none
traverse sea or land.
In such a place
The path of quest and promise was closed about With eager faces on the faces fell The white light shining from the Holy Graal. even I a man unclean I saw them The faces shone of angels and of men The face of Galahad, of Perceval, The face of Lancelot sanctified by woe And seal'd by priesthood. More than all I saw The fair uncover'd visage of the King, The King's face in his splendour, as the King Came out of Avalon, in the morning glory
;
Passing with royal train along the coast. Whereon the light sea scatter'd foam and song. Fair orchards ripen'd in the mellow sun ; The white road ran behind his horse's hoofs ; Over the bridges, over the hills, and all Through fields of barley, miles of wheat and rye Out of the West, far forth into the East,
By secret paths for many and many a day All reverend riding behind the Holy Graal, Amidst all manner of sweetness and of savour.
176
Which,
Had And
all
look'd again upon her master's face. must come to pass as I was warn'd
Already in my quest. The glorious train Swept by there fell a hush among the stars, A stir in streets, a spell upon the wind And whereabouts the silent highway flows Beneath the rude arch of a formless bridge, Some homeless urchin on the kerb asleep, Lifting his bare head from his ragged knees, Scream'd worship as an angel's broider'd hem The twelfth fair master in a scarlet cope And white dalmatic brush'd with sudden touch His naked feet. In that same hour a light
;
;
Began to kindle
faintly in the
East
its
The
In
scatter'd stars
many-hued
at
Was now
Leap
in
hand
;
the
stir
human
life
Must soon
begin
whereat
felt
my
heart
I
my
Which
every
man should
witness.
As
rode
palfrey humbly far behind the train. The narrow street which skirts the water-side
My
And
Stared as in dream, stone-turn'd for wonderment. So pass'd the pageant ; on the hush thereof An awestruck sob ensued, a stir spread wide
Through
VOL.
I.
all
many
voices,
177
Over all That shoeless urchin shriek'd, and beat the air With yearning hands, fast following. Below The bridge, a whistle of some early steamer Blew keenly in the thin keen morning air, As first we enter'd on the smoother ways
Clatter of doors and casements.
And And
broader streets, where life awaited light for thus drew nigh. light of life unlook'd
a
hundred
;
feet
In the old capital of Middlesex, Again the cloud enveloped us again We rode invisible ; his own choice kept back The blessed revelation of the King, Because the Holy Graal must first be set
For worship on the minster's altar high. Midmost within the city. Whatsoe'er Wild rumours of some unknown mystery Run like light fire from all the western side,
The
Shall
toil intent,
I
...
alone.
hurriedly and close Foreseeing house of dreams ; I cast the keys away. thence in haste to reach betimes And
My
riding
The The
minster shrine, hereby proclaim to all quest and pageant of the coming King.
HOW
So therefore, when the palsied hours Reach'd towards an end of all ; When petals from the scarlet flowers
hall
How
also
sang Mass
And, betwixt a shriek and moan, All over the floors of stone Or the scented ivory floors, The wind of the world outside
Took and scatter'd them wide And far through the open doors When a shaft of the sunlight broke,
;
Like smouldering
fire
and smoke,
lifting
high
over the dunes, through the brushwood maze, cries which echoed all day drew ofi^ afar. Towards the holocaust fire of the sunset and the long drawn under-haze Forth I issued alone, and heard The final note of the day's last fountain-hearted
And
The
bird
Thereat
at length
first
my
heart sustain'd
The
ghostly lawn I gain'd Like one who drags his cross. Thereon as over a mountain ledge At the South horizon's terminal edge. Where the ragged road of that restless place
that
And
Suddenly seems to fall into space, I saw how the pageant, rank by rank. Paused on the brink, there gleam'd and sank. So took they, 'twixt the day and the night, My wonder forth on her palfrey white. And the whole world's dissolving spell Mutter'd and moan'd confused farewell. Then life fell suddenly dead and cold. While over the terrace and through the gate. And far through the woodland and farther
over the open wold,
still,
all
179
A
With
Forth
Sang,
I
a vacant heart
will,
hurried
but
on the
crest
tarried so late
bird
which
hill.
To
I
will
The
not dwell on this night's eclipse, all the world's woes came secret want with shrouded lips. The grief too deep for name.
When
They found a name to ease their grief, They shew'd their wounds to win relief,
And
all in His great day Shall scarcely wipe thy tears away. One also from afar came down.
Who
said
Twelve
stars
were
in
my Crown
world, besprent valleys, made white my star of old. is my loss and far my lapse, but further is thy Deep descent ; Yes, I know by thine eyes of doom That I rise from the curse and gloom. And the glory of morning blossoms, as lights in the heart unfold.
rose,
loathing earth refused a bed, Empty and yet compell'd to be weary of all the skies was he
Whom
O
And from
his
There hung
How I
From
also
sang Mass
the thirty pieces of silver wrought By which Christs and Kings have been sold and bought. For a little space he gazed, then cried,
Hands
is
and woe, but an end of woe With a hope at end, as a light in darkness born Because it is given to gaze at length on a face from every face distinguished here below By mine own sorrow and loss. Yet deeper is scored thy cross. As the pit than the grave is deeper, O thou of all
Woe
crucified
forlorn
So therefore as the night of murk Drew towards a morning chill As light began like a yeast to work Nameless, stealthy and still
And
It
a torpid shuddering life to stir. seem'd that the burden of Lucifer, With the twelve stars dark in his crown. And of Judas the chain'd fell down, While those twain over the steep hill trod, Like souls set free that return to God. But forth abroad through the day's bright heart, God's hand under, I moved apart And a Borgia poison as I went
;
The The
Pass'd into every sacrament. vision went out in the eyes that see
star
absinthos
and
wormwood,
;
hissing,
into
all
sweet waters fell The chrism destroy'd the dying man, as Nature the honey-bee And with heavy feet, as I fared, I straiten'd the road and prepared path, meseems, for the world to take, going down to the gates of hell. i8i
;
A
How
on this middle deep and dark Should light and joy be rain'd ? Ah, by what process hard, remark, Redemption's height is gain'd Hence, over the marsh and over the sky And the unclaim'd wastes, I testify That the morning comes, howe'er delay'd, Till the saddest feet through a glory wade, While the aching head cannot fail to lift. Eyes turn where the white cloud-splendours And when the eyes behold what gem
!
drift.
Is set in
There is no soul in the deep abyss But shall remember crown and bliss.
Yea, the light behind is the light before, the O'erflowing the wreck and the ravage, suffusing day's deep wells ; The light without is for ever and evermore The sacro-saintly joy of all light within ; over the cross and the loss the sun-clouds circle
High
And
and spin ; the bane from the soul uplifted earth expels.
its
curse
from the
So therefore
in those softer hours soothe the close of all, I stood as one midst lights and flowers By an altar fair and tall vestments even I And in
Which
priestly
Intoned the mystical liturgy. Yea, with unearthly and shining eyes, I, even I, offer'd sacrifice. And uttered the kingly and terrible terms
Which,
The
assuming, the King confirms. lifted high forest of tangled tracery ; Their 182
veils
painted windows
Valete
And
the heavy shafts of sunlight broke Through the shifting denseness of incense-smoke ; When i even I with hands made clean " As God in the past cried " Light Sav7 light flash forth at the mystic words, and Christ
through His
veils
was
seen.
By this do I testify That the soul of itself can die, Yet in death is He strong to crown and height.
save,
SUMMA
Now
Over
TOTIUS MTSTERII
therefore concerning that wonder white a world's edge drawn from sight This also surely is thine own loss, And, because of the crown, like me Thou must partake of the curse and cross
Till a
mass shall be sung by thee. But that which was taken is not confess'd Betwixt introibo and missa est :
his angels do. meiim es tu ; over, refugium Though, for myself, on that great day I cried a Tu Autem^ Domine.
Say therefore, as
man and
Worlds
VALETE
heart of the woodland Gives range to the rover. Each broad tidal ocean To ships that come over ;
The
Visio7t
And
More
seas
might be broader,
overwatch'd them
;
stars
In luminous order
The
And
Still
v/ings
The
track
up those mountains
!
In
Where winds with their moaning spume on the tost seas Your dirge are intoning
All ye that go outward Where dryads have hidden Snake-fangs in the forests For hunters unbidden ;
Hath dream
in the brightness,
Valete
With mournful and mystic Penumbra is shrouded That threshold which opens
On
Eluding detection, found you, I enter'd. One day of election And, lo through what regions, Because of her trances.
1
!
beautiful outward
inward Divine is Your ray on the outward. Now each of them mine
!
is
What
This
secrets,
what meanings.
!
Informing, uplighting
life's
common
story
;
While thought
is
new
vestured.
;
High
And
all
green leaf's light flutter strong spirit music Which tongue cannot utter. And seen in the bricrhtness And heard in the glory, By this book of vision
The
To
And
Some
magical story.
To
Which
"
BenetJictus
OrtJinablt."
mirabilitrr
The Quest of
WOODLAND
The
Came
the
Golden Gate
MYSTICS
Blessed Master from the world beyond in the morning redness of my life ;
He
singled
I
For ministry
And
and race the world, through have never left Him, night or day.
all
me from
my name
in secret
Through
Great
is
all the lonely wanderings and ways. the enterprise, the end is sure In very truth the Blessed Master came
:
You
ask
how
first
came
came.
?
How
Say,
:
What other likeness could He wear but ours ^ A man of men, of royal aspect He By just so much as man, aspiring, shapes The Ends Divine and them in heart conceives Do those Great Ends assume the man himself, And so as man the Blessed Master came.
Where met the Master and the friend He loves r Where should they meet but in familiar scenes ? The cotter need not look beyond his gate. Nor woodman fare beyond the fallen tree, Nor any turn the corner of a street
;
189
The Quest of
the
Golden Gate
: !
In East or West or Zenith seek him not Blessed Master, he is here and now
To me
at
Thee haply call'd He with the morn's first bird And other some at middle night or noon With Nature round, to me at eve He came.
:
The sunset's scarlet heart had fix'd mine eyes, And when they moved, intincted mist and flame Seem'd rolling round me a majestic shape,
:
Dilated in it, suddenly I saw Beside me, and my spirit by His voice The Master's blessed voice was inly thrill'd.
The
He
1
bade
cross'd
Pass'd into spongy marshes. Still my mind Recalls one copse of willows where the moon
Through naked boughs look'd at us. As I cross'd The crumbling stile, a minute's space I paused, For who had stood there set apart so far
In
all
the world,
From mine old house had ever maid or youth, At the star-promise of Thy word most true,
forth at night to follow far on Thee, paused, as I, in that familiar copse. Where late and early on my face the moon
Gone
And
Had look'd so oft, which would not know me more, Yet all its woodland mystics spell the same In calm and wind, while I was call'd away The hallov/'d bound of all man's life to win
.^
Venerable Master, pausing there. What marvel is it if my human heart Shall keep the memory of that dreaming copse, In yellow moonlight lying, fresh for ever. Though over stars exalted ?
190
Vistas of Compassion
long ago
And
With Thee,
And
still with Thee, ever, Friend, with Thee the old house from the old roof-tree leans,
For death and change have been at work in all But still that woodland spells its mystic speech
In calm and wind, and all 'Tis ever fresh within my
its
speech
know
human
heart.
at eve.
came
That dreaming
Bears witness
in
copse, in
How
me through
in
VISTAS OF COMPASSION
LULLABY heard
in a sunlit
glade
;
And
The
a voice in a forest
bower
tender tones of a youth or maid. And the wistful want of the world display 'd Comes over the heart v/ith power.
Their message of hunger and aching deep No tongue can in words translate But pity flows over for paths so steep. For the dreadful height where the white worlds sweep And the cloud on the golden gate.
;
A O
Who
all
.?
knows,
who knows,
The
secret
measure of
191
The Quest of
the
Golden Gate
Enough thou singest in a pearl-grey sky The still'd sea rimpling on the hush'd sea-sand
Pauses
in sunlight
. .
And
listens.
Ever
in a
dream
at
noon
Lie lake-like, croon upon the crimpled shore And languish, shallow sea There shall not fail Slow flights of solan geese with flashing wings, And round the fosses, over dykes and meads The martin ever with a plaintive note,
!
And
doleful mew, shall call. So still wash on With mazy melodies of winds and birds
Life-breathing tract,
Amidst composing magic of a faint. Ethereal haze, upon that silent verge
with the silent sky O lambent blue Blue of the ocean, glass'd from heaven above. Still draw the soul, alike on marsh and height, Where the mole burrows, where the eagle soars On bleak, high crests, on the precipitous crests,
Mix
Whence
torrents plunge to
meet
thee,
draw the
soul.
Amid
the lonely walks of daily life, Right on the summits of exalted thought, Attract her still, and give the wild, white wings Which o'er thee bear thy furthest-flighted bird.
Then
She
in
some
with thee till twilight falls, Possess thy splendour, thine immensity,
shall abide
And compass
Yea,
in
adoring thought
192
all
thy bounds
in
loving thought
shall so awhile
Knowing Thy
Be
satisfied
Likeness
and deem at length she rests, with being which is vast as her's. Made one Yet thou shalt fail, for twilight shuts thee in
strong spell utterly dissolves ; thy voice Grows hoarse and ominous, cold vapours brood
Thy
About the shining beauty of thy breast. And, when the shifting wind begins to chafe.
Thy
bitter discontent
;
of brooding depths
Spumes upward
a vain
;
Thy barren nature on the rocks, the beach, Thou ragest, passionful and anguish-tost.
Grand art thou then, yet peace is far from thee But when the startled moon among the clouds
Begins to scurry, and with fitful rays Thine eager waste illumines, dire thou
art.
;
!
full-voiced in
all
thy waves
To
for the footsteps of the Prince of Peace still thy tumult, for His voice to still
hearts
There
is
thine
is,
and what,
a message to the soul. sometimes and some ministry. Assuagement But not true rest or true beatitude
!
Yet in the sweet peace of a day to come There shall be no more sea of storm and But splendid calm, lucidity and depth.
pain,
With gladness
royal ocean
in
immensity
v/e hail
like thine,
whom
and love
VOL.
I.
193
'The
TO YOU
IN
ABSENCE
!
When I have seen thy sunset smoke, How I have long'd for thee
When
A
O
through the fire and light deeper heart of light and fire
Has open'd from the infinite, Deep as that void was my desire
!
heart of fire heart of light self to feel and see Thy very In ecstasy of sense and sight
!
:
In nuptials of the depth and height Beyond the outward beauty's show.
The
Ah,
We
do but see thy painted face, Symbol and vesture of thy grace
The long-drawn forests trail and bend. The great paths wind and have no end. The swimming floods their founts pour The tides of the mysterious sea
That writhing vastness turns about. And all draw out our souls to thee.
out,
When
darkness on the earth and ocean unfolds the sense of motion, Only Sound, and the echo of all sound,
There seems
a closer contact
made
!
Than when
thy features stand display'd But oh, not thee, ah no, not thee The portrait of a face conceal'd.
An
194
To You in Absence
And do thy sweet eyes glance like this ? Thy lips seem as the lips we kiss, And has thy voice, to cheer and bless.
Our
music's dulcet tenderness
?
We know thy picture well, ah well From out the blazon'd frame of things
!
It
How
almost steps at times to tell close our heart's imaginings, Beata Pulchra, reach to thee
!
About thy country's shrouded sphere Gather we tidings far and near
;
And
star.
Through all the fields of space afar, Through long-drawn fire of light which The openings beyond the hills,
of thought to see of all things fair. antitype If thou art there, if thou art there
fills
We pass
in flight
Surely thy country is our home, And all is exile here ; And surely we shall reach thy place must be meant to see thy face
We Who
also
from
afar have
With
come. is now.
And
We
know not how, we know not how While still we tarry far away,
And
still
Throughout
On
And
Long
long dream-haunted day and sea, haunted with the dreams of thee
this
fail,
The Quest of
the
Golden Gate
FOUNDATIONS OF SAPPHIRE
keeper's stray shot suddenly divides This evening's silence, then the dogs respond, And up the steep hill's moist and rutted road Hardly the waggon horses toil and strain.
An
And
is by me, broad of girth roots enrich'd with moss, While through the wooded vista of the slope Only the bush makes dark the rover's way.
ancient beech
all
about
its
Now
In
dim recesses spread their brown expanse. While East and South the spell of sunset light
Has
visibly transfigured
and enrich'd
Those golden
Her
Invoking, praising. Makes peace within ; the peace profound within Sheds deeper peace without than Nature knows, Save in the mystic equipoise of man's Immortal part with her essential life, Exalting both then both repose therein, In common bliss dependent each on each.
;
And
unified.
Sweet Spirit of the sky So speaks the Soul, vibrating, brimm'd with songMay peace of God o'er all thy broad expanse
Be spread
for ever
May
and
Which carry coolness and life-yielding showers. From zone to zone, to freshen every field.
To
With
beauties
new
May
196
Foundations of Sapphire
From one new star, more bright than all before, Enrich thy gem-set crown with silver gleam, Thy lucid spaces purify and fill As with the lenity and grace of God may thy peace and beauty's broad increase On hearts distil in other showers and dew May all bright eyes beneath thy glance uplifted Be with thine azure, with thine argent rays, Suffused, and melted towards love's mildest mood,
Yet thy
full
joy
reflect in
every glance
winding woodland road, blue to golden green. thy gentle Like shapes in sleep, transfigure. Then it seems Thine answer comes ; thy splendour passing down Invests the soul and blesses in return ;
Ascending
1 see
still this
Man's love for Nature on himself devolves In lucid gifts he sees, he feels, he knows.
;
And
inspiration to a throne of
thought
I
Take, sweet Nature, take thy child Uplifts him. in the winds of evening, speak in mists. Speak Speak in the revelation of the stars And in the tremor of the midnight hush, Wherein the lone sea washes far away.
!
" " So art thou child no more This mystic Nature utters to the soul *'But, one in essence, thou art old like me. Yet ever young, for ever changed and born,
As through
Thou passest slowly towards the utmost And all my light goes with thee, all my
hopes
Spread wings before thee, while the end, the end, Is not so distant but its glory streams Far and away, not from the East or West O not from star or sun far and away,
Where
all in
197
The Quest of
the
Golden Gate
;
Truth-light and love-light, splendour of over-soul, Making the soul a splendour and my form, Which is the circle of created things, Glows in thy glory, in thy change transmutes.
us,
What makes our union ? Ever that which " The God encompassing to thee within
joins
And in the fading splendour of the West, When spent larks drop, when waters merge
in mist,
Who
And The
may read this message of God's light find already in his inmost self first faint gleams of that effulgence shine.
wills
when
And
a
the sea on
its
shore
winding highway broad and brown Which clambers the crest of the hill ; Or as moonshaft struck through a cloven cloud To repose on a mist impearl'd, Where slips some stream through a valley of dream, Is the song of the sleeping world
!
still
sleeps
when
And
fails
Sleeps in the stir which the morning brings. Sleeps through the Spring's new birth the joyous word of the loudest bird
Is a
A
And
As
Song of
is
the
Sleeping
World
All Nature
strangely moves in a dreamer's round, those that walk in their sleep, with sense And soul unconscious to sight and sound ; At times to the waking point approaching, Sinks she again into slumber deep ; An earthquake rends or a star descends She stirs or cries in her sleep.
It
is man alone, in a world of spell. Wakes or believes that he wakes and More than this tremulous pendant bell,
sees
Rock'd
in the
More than that rack of a sea, distraught As a dreamer's vision, of darkness born
He too perchance an anxious trance Tosses and waits for the coming morn.
in
Sleep that has kiss'd us too long, too long, Where is the prince with the kiss that wakes What will he bring to us, sorrow or song ? What more sad than the sleep he takes ?
Mournfully kindle, O morning blue But a day is at hand for the sea and land. And a day for the soul is due
! !
When
shall
it
come with
trumpet's blare,
drum,
?
Tramp of cavalcades filling the air. And the prince of all in the morning come Come in the morning or come in the night, Whence we know not, O Lord of bliss Come at our call, and the lips of all Will be life of life to Thy kiss
!
!
199
The Quest of
Wake
us
;
the
Go /den Gate
: :
we sleep, but we dream of Thee Dreams, we have known them at board and bed
its
Sleep and
rest
heart of
Thy
heart are
wed
A
And
through the wide earth, flushing and stirr'd, whisper, a rumour, a hint goes by.
the breeze falls soft, as Thy lips shall oft kiss us then lest we die
!
Burden
gleam of Thine eye, And waking, as yet we must wake, how bright Is the light in which we shall see Thy light !
For that
light is the
MIRRORS OF LIFE
Night deepen'd round me on those upland slopes The phosphor dome of heaven diffused its green And failing glow yet all the ghostly hills Loom'd through the dusk distinctly. On the loose
; ;
And
yielding soil of some fresh-furrow 'd field, Uncertain, lost, I fared, then, stricken, paused; For, lo, the dread arc of a flaming disc Rose o'er the hill, as if an angry eye Unfolded, loom'd unradiating, red And with an awful aspect seem'd to watch
My
doubting steps
I Unwittingly thought Here have I stepp'd perchance on ghostly ground, And now some presence of the phantom scene Comes with accusing front. My steps intrude
200
Mirrors of Life
One moment more Then will I fly
!
Advancing there, I met moon, who raised her weeds of mist lifting And sweetly turn'd a bright, benignant brow
The
To
greet me.
is
Prevail,
her abyss of very dread, Bares thee a midmost heart of pure goodwill
And, Man,
in
setting sun, an orb of lurid fire Enring'd with golden mist, stood clear below sea-born cloud, with loose serrated fringe
The
And
While on the earth the patter of the rain A sudden rainbow spann'd Fell audibly. Both sea and sky, then as in dream dissolved, While slowly round, to join the train of night. With twilight mixing, moved that sombre cloud.
And
pass'd at length left bare the heaven o'erheadlucid lilac soon with stars besprent.
Once more
there rose a
first
With Some
front appalling, ask'd, it seem'd, of earth vanish'd brother ; but the world was mute,
sent forth
;
of lightning scream'd a riven oak shorn of strength, the vapour-pile dissolved Then, In gentle tears, and, merged with evening dews,
Call'd forth nev/ lives to compensate for life
Destroy 'd.
So ever out of wrath and wreck living spirit which abides in all Still reconstructs the plastic house of life There is no loss, no waste, rejection none. 20I
The
iChe
Quest of
the
Golden Gate
!
Pass to the height, Soul, pass to the height But in the dregs and depth of very death The very life shall find and work, in thee.
And
And Was
confused
The
;
;
Along
The ocean eastward rose fantastic heaps Of livid haze. Mine eyes were fixed thereon.
When
in the
ruddy point of light. The sinking moon, September's crescent moon, her golden horn On a wall I lean'd Protruded, brightening. Its base was in a terrace built above The loud, besieging sea. With reverend gaze I watch'd the pregnant struggle in the sky Of moon descending and of mist which strove To quench that slanting gift of light, to earth So welcome, and those eager, moaning waves. O ever and anon the golden arm. Again thrust upward, for the queen of stars Made passage, who emerged at times to fair And so, with varying chance. But hasty view This war endured, until the wearied orb Defeated ceased to tinge her sullen foe. The shallow water shimmer'd in the light Of harbour lamps, and evermore the main, From out the depth and vastness of the dark, Brought voices wild which stirr'd within the soul All heights, all depths which spoke and speaketh stillOne message to the future as the past,
;
!
to
glow
202
To Come
into
;
Thy Presence
and there are none
Nay, man's heart
Interprets all the voices of the main, The low, light whisper under skies serene, The swell at middle night beneath the stars,
And all the dread and strident trumpet-roar Of the storm-stricken water's waste distress
;
For there
is
midst thereof
secret of a
hope ungain'd.
But very sure. The moon shall shine once more. All clouds shall melt, the light shall fill the world, The summer glow lead on to rosy dawn And rosy dawn to perfect noon of bliss While this most bright procession of the world
;
limns, O soul, thine own romance Not only we to reach our end in God Are moving on, but the divine great ends
But dimly
Make flight towards us on eager wings of time, And somewhere surely in the wonder-gleam
Life and that crown of
life shall
meet and
join.
is
free
and the
sail is free
Slipping through many a mystic zone On the light curl'd crests of the sea. In the lightsome arms of the wind
On
At
the dancing waves of the fancy-sea. the will of the wings of mind.
203
The Quest of
the
Golden Gate
!
ahoy Blythely the voyage begins Shout to the ships with their sails
all
shrouded,
;
Safely moor'd in the harbour wide Over the bar and beyond the buoy,
with its canvas crowded, turn of the tuneful tide Taking the How many ships in the roadstead ride Tarry who will till the skies are clouded
Hail to the
craft,
Over the great sea, hearts of joy. Over the ocean far and wide
Some
some
;
but some slip round From point to point of the shining shore Some will perchance to destruction come Where, black reefs over, the breakers roar, Or not far out on the sand-banks ground But sail we further and dare we more, Where never the dripping lead took sound.
For convoy
distant shore.
!
Who strives to follow our viewless Who watches for tidings of how
One God-speed
track
we
fare
?
!
bid us, and so good-bye For this is the voyage, whence none comes back, To the other side of the world so fair. cleave the main and we cleave the sky,
We
And we
follow the tide of the starry track. so high Through the shining isles of the stars befalls us we turn not back But whatever O we turn not back lest we die
We
hurry in front of the speeding vv'orld. And our flight transcends all flights of time. For our quest is the end of all.
204
We
Swift sky, over our heads run past ; Swift sea, under our keels slide through
We
Swift worlds, circle about, away cannot travel too fast, too fast,
With thought still chiding the long delay Deep sea's greenness and far sky's blue,
When
To
will
you open
the
pathway
true.
Out of the night time and out of the day, Which, when the worlds and their light are past,
the light of the end leads through
?
We
And
Of
shall not
inward hope reads import into life wholly die, our best persists. we therein are of eternity.
:
Seek,
through the ample range perfect end of mind Which man achieving, may desist, and say Should I die now and wholly cease to be, I count it blessed to have lived. Is time foreword of eternity Is that
it
circumstance, some
.?
Which men call life some transitory mode Assumed by conscious and eternal truth Of real being Then are all things good. Does the soul live Then is there nothing mean Or void of worth. Eternity abides
.?
.?
205
which
is
dream
thereof.
issues passing
through the
infinite.
the testifying voice within, utters forth the watchwords of the soul, Lies in the dark place of our mystery,
Which
Then
life is
is
put up Is folly at white heat. little while And death shall swallow up our offering. While that for which the sacrifice is made Shall perish too. What then is left of all
And And
love
life
sacrifice
.''
upraise the race Is nothing, serves no purpose at the close ; For in a little age the race itself
shall profit
}
And what
To
when the
And, drawn
into the red sun's flaming font. This earth shall feed her father and shall end.
Bold minds may face it, striving to extract Some ghost of joy from very woe thereof,
and counterfeit All-worthless that which into nothing
all is artifice
But
leads.
Black frost binds hard and holds the waste of life No phantom sun can warm it. Ah, perchance There shall be morning on the hills light Ail-proudly bursting from the eternal sun No frost is then too black to melt therein. Nay, mark, it glistens that is rime alone. And all the bulbs and buds of blessed spring
!
To
Which draws
Up from some dark but serviceable soil Wherein the sower's hand hath planted it And earth no more is barren from the seed 206
;
:
A
A
With
fiU'd
On
So also
mind
begin
And all our seeds of hope and thought To germinate the wilderness becomes
;
planted ground which fructifies and blooms, And this is presently a paradise Wherein the soul descends, whose angel rule Draws all the bitter order of the world Full sweetly round into a perfect way.
not in vain shall man, forsaking sense. in the domain of mind And not in vain shall soaring mind ascend The solemn summits of uplifted thought There is the mead of souls. The crown is there. No quest can fail whereof the end is this Wings shall not want when weary feet give way, Angels shall bear us when our pinions tire, And if the angels falter in the white Flame of the holy place, One shall be there, And under us the Everlasting Arms.
Then
Abide by choice
murmurs and
;
the ways
With sound
The hoofs of horses clatter and resound, Waking reverberations strange and deep
E'en
Is
in the
dead of night
Nature ever
stress
And
With
The Quest of
The winds
take
the
Golden
Gate
;
O'er far-off
thousand
cries
Are round us
when
Float whispers down, and upon flowers and weeds Not without murmur does the dew descend.
O O
chants and litanies intoned so loud, medley'd minstrelsy of pain and mirth,
And
As
Of all
Some
spell upon your music lies, enchantment upon drooping eyes, hangs And howsoe'er your founts are stirr'd
The
There issues not the saving Word music's volume and the organ's roll In place of voice, that melody of soul.
Stars
seem to
And
pregnant While out on the tremendous main The surges break and shout, and break again
rhyme,
We
seem to wait
at the
For ever
opening gate
reach.
When
in the higher
it
moments of
the soul,
things,
seems to snatch the whole Of that which Nature's chorus sings. Yet comes there neither note nor tone
It all
Almost
rejects
or all can
own
Of base
How How
may
fall
208
A
The
So?tg of
Sound a72d of
Silence
And
wanting the true Word, or dispossess'd, Nature is consolation but not rest
Maintaining
still
solemn
state
And
pageant, inarticulate
;
Thy
Howe'er
Word
of
its
is
ours,
;
powers
great concerted plan Perchance thy strings and tones are lent
an accompanying instrument By man alone interpreted. And from his voice and speech, in tone and string. Reflected meaning borrowing. Sound to us therefore as we dream and drift. Thou who dost aid the soul her voice to lift, By her unseen conductor taught and led ;
And when
time's gates flow open, still prolong Great Leader, past these measures her supernal song!
VOL.
I.
209
PHASES
Wintry
and wild and wasting and above All winds in woe, out of a bleak grey sky, With sharp-tooth'd wings, it blows the eastern windAnd like a two-edged sword that sleety breath Cuts and drives through. The bitter sea beneath Assumes a kindred mood, and, wrought thereby. Responds in fury, raging on the rocks All quiet coves, where sunny shallows smiled, And plash'd and rippled, in a milder mood, Pause and watch Filling with savage voices. The troubled morning ripen far across Those spuming billows; through this lifting mist The lone and dreadful ocean shews no life Of bird or boat. One presence on the peak Of yon sea-splinter'd spur, with bony arms Incites all winds and waters on to war She only calm, the foe of peace and man, Bids strife and tempest still possess the world. An elemental battle, as of old, Deepens about her. Who shall break her spells.'' Who bid the baleful fury hold henceforth The shafts and fatal watchwords of the fight }
An
answer comes
the Rose
is
in the
East
There
comes the Lord Day Comes splendid Sun, dispersing dark and cloud
at the source
of
strife
The driven mists before his rays dissolve, The phantom flees, a sudden stillness steeps The weary space of air the ocean springs
;
Lightsome and gladsome, blue beneath the blue Clear depth and lucent height. O dark and storm, O peace and glow, your phases haunt the soul, 2IO
There
And from May learn
Whence Whence
this
and Here
within himself! pageantry of Nature we the mystic lesson of the East first the darkness comes, first comes the light bitter winds, the morning's fragrant joy ;
!
so the desolation and the gloom Obscure of souls are visitants of God, From the same world unknown of that dread will Which brings His morning beam of life and grace To soothe, to comfort and to purify.
And
on the aspirations of our heart falls and, all her aids withdrawn, No comfort comes to cheer thee, lonely soul, God is not with thee less in dark than light ; So in aridity and drought discern His ministry and one true way to Him
When
darkness
while He leaves thee, to return In fuller sweetness ah. He leaves thee not His consolation, not His ward or watch, Withdraws awhile, and thus He leads thee on,
little
That thou through dereliction and Mayest pass forth into felicity.
great pain
waits behind the darkness of thy soul, waits the sun to gladden earth and sea ; And bitter winds, possessing all the East,
God
As
pomp of mystic names Shines burnish'd everywhere Far out of sight a lark proclaims That what we seek is there. 21 I
sudden
The Quest of
The sward
Those
the
Golden Gate
"
! :
dingles, full of
dim
"
retreat,
!
Murmur
The
"
"
!
Forward
still
;
cannot seek in vain Beyond the hollow and the hill " I hear and hear again " That
!
You
The
flood cries
resistless will
Draws
all
my
springs amain
"
!
The
ocean, hurtling far away Beyond the bay and bar. Alone moans ever night and day " For ever far and far "
: !
And
Hope
brightens in the
BE YE COMFORTED
every man the tangled skein of life Betrays one leading thread, one Gordian knot Secures that clue ; but howsoe'er we strive. Twine and untwine the labyrinthine mesh,
For
Its
grand Tantalian maze and mystery, Line upon line, to more fantastic shape
Baffled ingenuity
Is twisted.
itself, a vain expense ; the leading thread that Fate assign'd At each one's birth remains within his hands, Unused the knot which ties it is himself.
Returns upon
still
For
Say,
is
212
Be Ye Comforted
He
ventures
down
Has
own mystery ?
sit
;
Mournful
And spell the doubtful message of the stars To place what vague construction best appeals On half-caught voices speaking in the wind
;
Mournful
hand
fall
the
mesh
down.
Stars, teach us patience ; lift upon the wind Your voices, ministers unseen ; and thou,
Take
come forth and raise into the light Thou The guiding line which somehow led thee on Where mazes end, where oracles declare
Their purport, where the light speaks clear and loud.
heart, shalt
Soul
Emancipated, wing'd,
To-day perchance, to-morrow is not Yet at an age's end, nigh is the time
long.
!
But order now the temple of the mind. the hour arrives And let no crookedness or twist within
Prevent the correspondence of the soul With the best order that the soul has dream'd. O be we inly rectified and right,
And And
But
stand
if
to gain our sun ; the light should tarry, be we still Patient and purged, and not a day too late The cords may want some pulling at the end
!
To
straighten them ; the parting veil may need violence to cast it quite Aside for ever the high light beyond
Some happy
God's wisdom latent in life's parables. Then all the unsolved problem of ourselves,
213
The Quest of
the
Golden Gate
Subtended by the sapience of God, Is sacred through the presence of the King There dwells His secret, there His rumours
;
stir,
And
We dream and brood. O long and dolorous way. O life-long search, Thine end is all within O light of all desired, crown is there Thy There art thou shrouded, there wilt manifest O God, our end, if we can meet with Thee In any place apart from all the world, It is there only, and abiding there. for Thee, our mystic comfort comes Waiting That none shall lose Thee who makes search within,
!
there be sure the royal voice shall first Proclaim the great arcanum over which
If,
our God,
in the
Thou
art
And hark, the soul of man and testifies Speaks depths Prophets may fail us and the Christs may die.
!
And many
Calvaries and Golgothas Be waiting still the saviours of the race But never has the sibyl soul adjured Made any answer from her oracle. Save God is with me, and within me God
;
The city, from strife and stress Of the weary weeks, for a refuge seeks
In the cave and the wilderness.
I
know
White mists
In the windless night to a sacred height Aspires, and the light afar.
214
Quiet Night
I
and
Perfect
End
blusters,
know
that the
Send thoughts
woods
The
To
And
But
The
Wild waters
As they
it is seeking. to the search impell'd ; Though But thou can'st divine what an end is thine
And
Thou hast sought in the city and desert Thou hast sought in the height and deep Though the goal to win is not found therein
;
Yet
'Twixt space and time, gives issue By a wonderful path and lone. Leading keen and straight to a mystical gate, And beyond the gate it is known.
It
is
vision
neither to East nor West, And the North cannot tell it, nor the sweet South spell But the end of that path is rest.
Which
it,
The high thoughts reel and waver, And sense in that realm untrod Has bonds unbelted and cinctures melted, But the end of the path is God
!
215
The Quest of
the
Golden Gate
hear beyond
of mortal
man
!
art far
We
And
away
Thee with
uplifted heads
Our straiten'd natures, bursting bar and bond, From all of self set free, by yearning's strength
the fierce energy of consuming will. Divide this blackness of the night of sense The mystic night obscure which parts the Soul, Ascending Carmel's mount, from her true Spouse. So upward, upward ; seems there light at hand The darkness whitens, morning comes apace Faint shines already on her straining sight The Blessed Master's hills and fair demesne And soon in bush or bower or garden close. In dighted hold or chamber shall we meet
The
We
Resplendent Vision of eternal joy, Best, brightest, dearest, holy, holy One Life's measure, life's totality, life's end cannot reach Thee, till Thou come to us. Nor dwell with Thee, till Thou abide in us, Nor see Thee, till Thou art reveal 'd in us, Nor any way, till Thou art known in us.
Can we Thy saving beauty's fulness know But we must reach Thee, know Thee and
possess
Thou art our nature's one necessity, And whatsoe'er we lose, in life or death,
No
part in us of body, mind, or soul Renounces Thee. All good which works 216
in us,
And Thou
art in us
when we know
not.
;
Be more in us, that we may more be Thine Be with us ever till the soul, enlarged And fortified, grow fit to gaze on Thee Then let the night melt on the mountain tops
!
; lighten us then time is surely near our part is done Lo, we have search'd the world, crying on Thee Lo, we have mounted every steep of mind.
!
The
And now we
All peaks where man has suffer'd and has seen Some little corner of the mystery.
Are
far
below
We
So
must have
of truth,
call
we Thee,
therefore
Thy
And
come,
holy
God
Lo, we
and we call on Thee, Wasteful and wanton, but the more we call
are saint-like,
all
:
Whatever good or evil dwells in us, The time hath come when Thou must Amen, it shall be so we will not wait
:
be ours.
Maker of all desire. Thou knowest this. Thou knowest us. We do not call alone The voice of Antichrist and Lucifer,
With every voice, in agonised appeal. Invoke Thee now. And Thou, O Lord,
wilt come.
Thou
bestow
part again, nor offer type and sign, wilt wholly give Thy gracious self. So all our need shall cease, for Thine are we.
But Thou
217
The Quest of
the
Golden Gate
LOOK TO SEE
A SONG OF VISION
When
the twilight of autumn falls, sober and grave, on the brightness ; When, pungent with mystic aroma of turf and of earth,
in its lightness
The
To
the vague ground exhaling, some breath urges zephyr's form in the hollows, in meadows, midst muffled dead
mist,
from
here
;
banner
un-
furl'd
There
pennon, a streamer put forth ; all the ghosts of the world 'Twixt the trees gather'd watching a man, though the footway is known In the broad road ends yonder uncertain, impress'd by
a
the lone
And
some
light
Looks forward, not lost nor distress'd, guessing well where the glimmer must be
As he
looks
without
pausing,
!
so
to
sure ends of
existence,
look to see
shall await
him
white bird
From out of
2X8
/ Look
With
flight that
is
to
See
o'er
meadow and
tempt
brake,
Him who
and
sought but
home
shall take
On
may
find
him
astray by
Of a
Then
chantment and
thralls.
is
One maid of
man
in
the
magical hour
So bent upon far-shining ends, pressing on where they gleam, By some path unexpected, perchance what was dream'd not by me I shall reach in my longing, and that overstanding all
dream
O
The thought
still
;
look to see
in
its
flight
may
follow
of my art is remote. Where the keen star broods over the hill, Where the dark clouds hang out, flashes flame, the red flame o'er the storm-driven deep, Where the winds have their caverns, 'tis far, but longer
The Word
the
way
is
must keep.
is
The
heart that
is
weary
bent
Where
the
Thought with
is
Word
is
united
and
albeit
the day
far spent.
The
night comes
closes
round
see,
eve
a
219
The Quest of
effect
the
Golden Gate
its
priest the
high union
'Midst the strings and the horns and the organs, and, bent on the knee, Shall the great CEcumenical Council confess it ; so
therefore erect
Do
look to see
We
And
shadow of
love,
which
is
longing and
each, and our separate life Intervenes like a wall in all nuptials ; no woman is wife. Nor ever call'd any man husband, save only in sign ; But because of the want and the longing, the strong flame which burns in the shrine And feeds on the heart that sustains it, I know, beyond
sense,
know my Redeemer
intense.
in
is
living
that
keen and
By some change
divine.
which all our blind motions reach out, shall the ends of all longing decree And that out of the flesh I shall gaze on the love which is mine So I look to see
;
To
The
darkness falls over the waste the great deep in the darkness roars But the shores, it would seem, have no sea, or the sea in the dark has no shores
; ; ;
The God-light
While the eye
the dark
falls
lost, if it
;
shine,
would
we
tread
220
/
Who
The
knows what
battle-call
?
I^ook
is
to
us
See
forward midst
fall, shall
urging
;
shrill
we
tell
if
we
we
lie
can
as
we
fall
through a world of and wraith, false-seeming Our trust may be cold and half-hearted, but yet all our
light in the darkness, upshining
trust
is
in thee.
And
fields
of dissension
!
because of
Do To
look to see
hear and to see and to know, and, immersed where the lights never fail, Confess that at length we have truly transcended the world of the veil
;
We
have pass'd through the region of omen, and enter'd a land of sight. O thanks be to God for the pillar of smoke by day and the pillar of fire by night The voice in the cloud and the burning bush and the
;
For the soften'd grace of the shaded face and the back of the Lord our God For the shadow'd home and the light beyond, for the
;
secret pulses stirr'd the parable dim and the mystic hymn and the first By sense of the Word But for the end and the vision, beyond the gate and the way.
!
The
The
light
veils
picture,
repose
in
activity free
of the world are about me, sad dreams of the night and the day. But I look to see
!
221
The Quest of
the
Golden Gate
AT
When
PASSING
and
take
Call us back to
light
Leaving sweetly
now we
And
Short or long
so,
good night
we do not know,
seems
:
Dark
leave
it
so.
!
Wish
Who, committing
be.
At
rest
would
And
to keep us free
:
from
pain,
With the eye's light in the eye, Thus we pray thee Come again
;
Till then,
good-bye
Sense of
all
Utter trust dissolves alarms Thus with lips against thy lips And arms
in
arms
222
"
Haetabi'tut
ticscrta
ct
inbia,
ct
salitutJO, t
IsAiit, cap.
Prophetia
eisttltabft
XXXV.,
V.
I,
Garden of
Spiritual Flowers
WATCHES OF THE NIGHT
All day
The
I've tarried in the
burning
fields,
Awaiting Night.
The sun
has tann'd
my
skin,
heat has sapp'd my strength, an eager thirst Consumes me. Minister in cooling dew,
In gentle rain, in vivifying wind ; Most in the shelter of thy plumage soft, The hallow'd refuge of thy bridal breast. Receive and hide me now, Supernal Queen
thy plaintive nightingales begin In vale and thicket Droop thy mighty wings. And quench that sudden burst of western light Which through thy sea-born panoply of clouds Now the splendour fades Has torn so strangely.
!
Bid
all
Where
art
thou now
tresses
;
.''
Unbind thy
let
them
!
fall
on
me
With thy
Thy tenderness thus am I lost in thee ; Surpasses Thy cool, unconscious kisses on my mouth Are pattering in aromatic rain Lean over, press me, breathe into my mouth
deep thy secrets are
all
!
!
How
Thy beautiful, innumerable eyes So thrill me through While I adore thee, gaze With crooning whispers in the wind and trees. How wonderful, how mystical thou art,
!
bright eyes
VOL.
I.
225
A
I
read thine eyes like poems Speak to meever to the spirit thou hast form'd Speak And consecrated with uranian love,
With
esprit
se revete
pour descendre
et se
depou'dle
pour
motiter.
Folds of
flesh
thy form conceal, Earthly restricted senses bind thee Five Dimly wails our vain appeal.
veils
Wings of those that loved and knew thee Round about thy house may throng,
But the charm of earth which drew thee
Holds thee by
a spell
too strong.
Soul of sweetness, thus forsaking True life's light and love divine,
When
the witch-spell
life
fails,
awaking
thine.
Light and
and love be
So the walls of sense entomb thee, So we leave thee born of men May thy sisters' hands assume thee Born in death to life again.
226
Kntranceme?it
ENTRANCEMENT
I
SEE,
my
is is
There There
God, thy scarlet sun descend no shadow on that blazing orb, no mist about it magnified,
Still-glowing, rayless
so
it
sinks in silence
!
To grey refined, through summer silence rings, And night is held thereby with balanced plumes,
;
Behold the burning circle broken now There is no wind on land, no wave at sea Behind this meadow, with the mill beside, The day-god's head devolves A lark's last song, High in the lavender and opal sky,
;
!
waits.
Thy
Ascend, thou voice ring on thy parent doth The aspiration of her evening fragrance After thy flight direct And I too stand ;
!
Who
The
And,
loses
Who
dreamlike, rippled cadence of the sea. loses earth and sea, whose soul ascends,.
like a fragrance from the earth exhaled, In aspiration and in ecstasy. Where thy wings beat the air, wild bird, it dies
227
WHITHER
The moon
Nor
does not
tire in
the sky,
after
:
that star
which comes
it
quail
In the paths that are high Do they know where they go,
While we faint and we fail ? For we know not, ah, no Sure light, that has lighted from time out of mindFrom what moon, from what star ? As we look from our place
!
grace
A DIRGE AT SEA
Well
Thy
hast thou chosen
!
who
all
hast
made
the sea
resting place
O,
it
!
Bereft thereof all stony coasts would stretch As bleak and barren as the wilted moon. Which has no life but that which dwells in deep Desire of soul, which vainly strives to steal,
away
The
in its
blue
lips.
shall glisten
;
all
ht Aridity
And
So the thought portion of its being. The sacred thought of thee shall still keep fresh
become
That calm,
vast heart.
The
To
deep Perform thine obsequies. To its true home The flesh returns thy spirit to its place Is render'd too throughout all days to come That soul to mine inseparably join'd,
;
:
With
and beauty,
my
MYSTERIES OF EXILE
One
life
But many
alone, one end, one way to reach substitutes and ghosts of each
:
false
lights
moving
!
round and
Too
long bewray, do Thou, with secret speech. Direct us truly unto stable ground
IN ARIDITY
The
road
is
brown
ash.
shade and music round it. Heaven has rain'd Through all the morn, but now the August sun Is warm and brilliant, flooding mead and down Far hills are flooded, tiles of gabled farms
:
Make
229
A
And
The
distant churches glow. ... I gaze on all manifested beauties of the world, And have not lost that vivid sense of charm Which all can weave. The power of speech is mine, The strength of love why seems the tide of song
Thou inspiring God, Arrested in me } bard and prophet commonly invoked. By One in thy varied names, on Thee I call Abide in song with me Forsake me not The grace of inspiration still vouchsafe One soul in all I see reveal'd beneath This constant flux and sheen of outward things.
:
stand by hedges, where the fern and oak With modest hawthorn interweave and blend Sun-metamorphosed tints of greenery ; And there the gnat, which buzzes in the air
I
busy message of continual life ; The cool fresh wind, which stirs in flower and frond, In leaf and twig, in every blade of grass Which tempers summer at its thirsting noon These wake some random thought to bless my life. As dews bless eve. Descend once more on me Descend ; I summon in the name of all Which soothes and vivifies thou fire of God Thou inner sense of sight, Transform the world
Transform
Is
my
;
soul
The fountain seal'd awhile now the speech from heaven descends open'd From that intolerable, azure sky. Which holds no cloud to stain its virgin depths.
It
does descend
cries
The Poet
His
the Priest of Nature puts vestments on, the prophet's mantle wears.
offers praise again.
And
thousand trees
!
Take up
Those
the message ; may the winds prolong 1 all is distant hills re-echo song
230
From Lane
to
Coast
FLIGHT
I
SOOTHED
a bird
Why
P
tell.
Thou
Safe in a
canst not
bower he was
is
set to rest
What
He was O sweet
The
bird-singer
Thou
canst not
tell.
Where flies
bird flew out through a door ajar the soul with the fassijig bell Phis
High sounds
song
at the
!
voice of freedom
evening star
not
Thou canst
tell.
But why the rose has a scent so sweet And where all secrets of beauty dwell When souls go up from this dim retreat
Through
The
soul shall
tell.
And
all
231
Far winds the path before me. If an elm Above the hedge should rise, in the soft warm air Its lightest branches scarcely seem to move, And on the soothing green of either bank The sight rests thankful. There the starwort shines,
spreads
its
graceful sprays,
golden head.
When
some mead
stand,
Enring'd by clover scent, a stream mayhap Winds by, with willows on the banks thereof
And And
may-trees
its
all in
blossom.
Then
I see.
Amidst
ancient elms,
Facing the bright West with embattled tower red-tiled roof all glowing. O'er the stream I lean to watch the swarm of gnats. dancing And hear far off upon the broad high-road The beat of horses' hoofs, or sounding horn Before some thatch'd, old-fashion'd wayside inn ; And then so long as any bird will sing One sings all day no more I ask than this.
But when from some strait road as here to-night Forth on the lonely sea, with eager steps, Alone I issue, when I stand thereby.
And
About me
When
With
all
Expands
South-wind's dove-like wings; the wide expanse of crinkled sea before me there no sail in sight,
winnowing of wings
of evening ruddy Forth come the shrimpers with their shoulder'd nets To dredge the shallows then my heart no more Can rest contented. Suddenly reveal'd, I see the vastness of the world and man, The ample scope of life my nature longs For some broad sphere of action, speech and thought, " And, Seek it, seek it now," calls the Sea's voice.
faces
in the glare
232
To You
in
Glory
GREAT EXPECTATIONS
Beyond
To
issue
Across the plain to see from far How white, how high the mountains are
the everlasting hills To watch the royal light, which spills Such boundless glory on the grand
Above
Then
TO YOU
O
1
IN
GLORY
void
!
starless
blessed vision, wonderful, divine see thee standing, and thy radiant face
Smiles
dov/n
:
on
me through
this
world's
gathering
gloom
I cannot look, at thee, I yearn and stretch These eager hands to reach thine own in vain. Gulfs are between us, an eternal sea,
an
infinite abyss.
!
cross
star
How
I
fares
it
with thee in
Gentle and kind and true, of light and joy. thy Home of Rest }
and thine eyes In every star, and in the rosy morn Thy maiden blushes ; where thou art is beauty, And wheresoe'er is beauty there art thou
see thee in the sunset,
!
When my
233
A
I
As thou
with thy virginity unstain'd, with thee in thy glory bright Till then be thou beside me in my dreams, Till then when dream and waking shall be oneshall be
Thou
THE BLESSED
For
LIFE
Cool shade, cool shelter and a fountain cool Swan of the snow-white breast, I see thy plumage shining, white as wool
!
A SEA PROPHECY
An
infinite
sea
now,
And
everever
To
cross thee
sail
away.
mighty vault
Which rounds thine urgent being, I am one One with the stellar ministers of night
Who
air
Whose path of pure, illuminated state. Through all the three-fold phases of her
Is
eve and night with blanch'd, transfigured with these Perform'd ecstasy
in silent
reign,
face,
To
unify existence
Stars, Sea,
mystic thought Wrap me, ye Winds, away to some wild place. Where, in the centre of a surging world Of crested billows, full of stormy speech, My sea-dream bark is spell'd, awaiting me.
Moon
am Mother of
! .
yours,
!
all
234
Expression, there is joy which deifies ; The limitations of our mortal life Dissolve therein ; through every sense enlarged The floods of rapture pour into the soul. All these in generous measure have been mine ;
But something waits me far from every From every harbour far alone, alone The promise, the prevision cannot fail
coast,
And Amid revolving galaxies above. The scenic splendours and the vibrant Of lissome lightnings, the great organ Of rending thunder over open seas
But
tones
I go to seek the threshold of my doom. Thereon the crests and surges and sea-winds. There all the echoing voices of the sea,
Shall break with one precipitous music-crash. Break and dissolve in melody, lute-speech
wins towards subtle silence, then the deep And utter stillness of the anchor'd state, White peace of sleeping sails in harbour furl'd
!
Which
call'd the Soul from dreamful deeps of sense Such silence fell as when expectant Night Feels some faint presage of approaching light
:
Her
Such
secret nature
silence fell
then
fill
Of purest lustre, beautiful and bright, And calmly from the intellectual height
All earthly clouds dispersed,
all
darkness dense.
Gar deft of
Spiritual Flowers
The waxing
That dormant Soul magnetically drew, As two fond eyes through waters gazing down Draw mild Undine to her lover's view
:
From depth to height, of all her bondage freed, High aims lead on the Soul to starry crown.
And out from forests in the night and wind On lonely coasts I issued. Once at eve, When stormy clouds involved a splendid West,
The
sun, departing, drove one blazing shaft Right up the sky, suffusing all its path
fared forth in thought o'er summer seas, paused on mountains in the morning light,
I
With angry red, and where it smote dispersing The thin far scatt'ring phantoms of the storm Then glancing onward to the blue serene
It
melted
in the zenith.
beheld
In mine
own mind,
Sufficient
! !
as in a
The
I
cried,
Her
" Achieve, O soul, the light in the waste alone refuge sought, there dwelt and ponder'd there
!
There
is
rest in this,
Was
main
Which on my
refuge
in
solitude,
my
length
drew me forth I cross'd the meads and mounts, I roved by woods and waters, till I reach'd The coast once more. I saw the vast sky stretch
the vast sea to unearthly height,
Above
236
The Sea-Fowl
And
Her
in the
A saffron
flight
sunset paled.
That stormy path, dared winds, dared ocean deep, Dared lightnings there. The solemn night profound,
thousand voices speaking
all
in the night.
still
Have ye not visited, in dreams at least. The hush'd, deep place of life and peace
in
God
THE SEA-FOWL
the wide and high Vault of the evening sky One sea-fowl wings his solitary flight Seekest thou, Bird, thy nest. Or wilt thou journey West, Where yonder sun descends and clouds burn bright
! :
Across
can compare with thee. rover of the sea, So valiant-hearted } Lo, thy breast is bare To the wild wind, and thou. With thine undaunted brow, Darest the dangers of the sea and air
!
What Thou
As
shine those white wings of thine. thou dost voyage o'er the salt sea-foam In port for wind and tide
On
Thou
assail,
On
energies unspent
the blue.
Thou
A
Is
tire,
subtle inward
in
burning
While mine
My
follow in thy wake ; thoughts alone pursue thee o'er the main.
Which
art thou lost at length give thy pinions strength Fair flight be thine, sweet rest on distant shore Thou cam'st I know not whence,
:
Now
God
Thou
In
life
and time
The
Have depths and heights unknown They change but still must
And
And
PATHS OF PILGRIMAGE
Thou lurest, ocean grey white waves roll in. Dim, clouded sky. thy Break over me eternal blue come forth Dame Nature calls and ballad-voice of Spring ; Sweet mistress, mother of the life of man,
:
How
238
Titles
of Nobility
And
gentle maid who dost the world renew, hundred stars unveil. Behold, I come The clouds have vanish'd, the supernal vault, glass of vision and of ecstasy. The Moon therein Its burnish'd surface spreads.
!
like a spirit from the seering glass, In light pass off; and here, like angel's wings, The winds of night among the ancient trees
Doth,
Thy
trees,
O God
THE
O
WELL
POVv^ER
And
For
for those whose duty assumes the guise of beauty, well for those whose mission puts on the veils of
;
grace
whom
flies
Love
also
on,
And well when God leads onward by light of fairest face. To them nine choirs of angels at dawn proclaim evangels And words of peace at vesper time through channels
With
Of
thou ; on the lowly from holy place and holy glory altar chaste, for shining placed one radiant vestal
such
as
brow
TITLES OF NOBILITY
The
High With
generations of immortal soul.
soul irradiating earthly veils
virginal translucence
.
.
A
And
Does
it
come
From orchards nigh me, from the garden close, Or clover meadows ? ... It is evening breath Of Nature, lapsing towards her night's repose,
In bridal splendour of the latest spring
How
all life
1
is
. .
bathed therein
Deep, deep
it
drinks.
What
I float
What golden gates unbar! of melody unseal cryptic springs serenely up life's lucent stream
!
I see thy soul Into the furthest past. in its fontal home Serenely dwelling and blest, spiritual mansion bright of immortality phoenix-home The golden rule of And
life
A A
state,
into form. portion of thy nature The inner essence, taking outward shape Of holy choirs made visible, accords
With
that divine and individual thought Eternal Cause had consciously express'd
To To
I
bring thee into being. ... call thee fair, to say thy mien
Is
it
well
is
high
see thy perfect, superhuman mode, Like poetry in happy music clothed, But thine unbonded, quintessential part
for
human
thought.
sense thy presence in the sphere of mind, Yet know not what thou art ; I call on thee, And thou respondest in the brightest shape
Supreme imagination
On human
types.
Like evening's grey View'd in a holy trance. Their deeps unfold. Like fragrant spaces. Poised on eager wings,
I
pictures, based see thy haunting eyes. from Heaven's eternal hills
240
Titles
In spiritual a pure spark In the electric ocean of God's light. Support the dreamer now, ye mighty downs, Thou scarlet sunset, draped in formless cloud Pinewoods and wilderness and windy peaks ;
.
.
symbols
of Nobility
.
Ye shadow-haunted
;
An inner impulse prompts Thou, deep'ning night! That point of light above the burning sea
.
.
Lifting
itself, a
And down
life
So glimmers into outward consciousness. At first one thought intent, through ages long. Revolves about itself; the depths and heights
Of
its
own
While contacts form'd with God at either end, Pulse and vibrate therein. The tide of thought Turns outward now sense-music charms it on,
;
a secret change ; Gives psychic shape, and in a world of souls Diaphanously draped, with wide, white wings, One torch-like star, from pale and lofty brow with auburn hair unbound Diffusing light In rainbow ripples thus I picture thee.
Still
law.
towards the circle of material things It draws thy nature down the mighty tide. Thou enterest the generating world narrow passage with a door of night
And
At
either end, a golden hope beyond, Cross, combat, victory and crown betwixt.
veils,
SPIRIT IN
THE HOUSE
/ saw thee serving on a winter morn, When all within the church was shadow-dim, And in some pauses of the pries fs deep chant
Thy
Pre-eminent, rang out like MichaeVs voice. But when the mist began to lijt without
And
Thy
And
windows whiten d, thy pure face. face, through clouds of incense shone, saintly as that voice rose o^er the rest supreme.
all the
Calming
So shone thy virgin beauty there supreme One form divine o'er all adoring there
Then dreamed I
town
thus.
And
all
thousands down ; the sun, with blazing eye, day long Burn'd in a brazen sky
Its
;
in
any lane or
street,
The
fervid heat
feet
;
Of flints and flagstones scorch'd all passers' And after sun-down, terrible to mark. The baleful comet smoulder'd in the dark.
;
At length it sank that spell which held the breeze Was broken then a shiver through the trees As through a dreamer pass'd The storm's wild spirit o'er the panting town. Through welcome clouds, long pray'd for, now look'd down;
;
And,
in brief
The sultry rain fell fast; flashes leap'd and danced on high In vivid The steel-blue lightning through the broken sky.
242
A
Through
all
Spirit in the
week
House
that
And
The
Heaven's shining height by slow degrees Man's vanish'd vigour, and the dread disease Ceased in a single night. So I went forth one morning in the sun, Through cleansed and shining streets again went A bracing wind was blowing from the North, The Plague was done.
forth,-
My
The
steps were turn'd to seek the House of Prayer scatter'd worshippers, in twos and threes
Assembled there, Thank'd God for life, still trembling on their knees But in the chancel, serving, there wast thou.
With
upon thy pale, broad brow, face, the same collected mien. All in thy white array'd.
There was no trouble in thy face, thine eyes, Still on thy book directed, neither turn'd To left nor right there was no motion seen
In thy mild lips the soul adoring pray'd Alone in thee ; in thee no fever burn'd
;
.
The
in the
open road,
dreadful silence where the pest abode, desolation and long reign of death, Pass'd like a horror of the night alone Before thy modest mien reserved and stately
Sweet incense rose, no more the Plague's foul breath. I heard God's silver Mass-Bell sweetly ringing, heart-felt Credo that the choir was singing.
No more the death-bell's tone, No more the voice of mourning heard so lately And for the spotted, drawn and fever'd cheek.
The shrunken
body, as an infant's weak,
243
A
Erect
I
thy wonted place, and a maid in grace, youth vigour With auburn hair, with visage smooth and fair, And faintly bloom'd the Rose of Beauty there.
in
like thee
know such spirits through the starry spaces Subsist for ever with increasing graces ever thus do thou, reserved apart,
!
Thy
May
chaste thoughts cherish in thine inmost heart, they, though stain'd, who love to see thee pure.
in that
endure
May he that sought betimes the House of Prayer And found thee serving when the Plague was there. Thy gentle picture ever keep within To save his spirit from the Plague of Sin
!
STELLA
The
mystic singer to a certain Star ... Be thy secret name In salutation Inscribed upon the Palace of the King, And on the white apocalyptic stone
!
Engraved
indelibly
paced
at
night
;
The
With
all
my
being.
To
thyself
it
bore
mighty message, until now retain'd That from the sacred heart of sylvan things, From woods and forests, from eternal downs, From water-sides, the Golden Word might come-
Assured
244
Rovei-^ s
Hymn
It bids me first recall thy nature's depths, The heights thereof, and then those sacred arts With whose exalted themes thy longing holds
These are proofs Impassion'd correspondence. That things undream'd await thee. In thy hands The future lies conceive what end thou wilt. And, on the honour of the angel bands.
;
Thou
shalt attain
it,
soul is set upon an endless quest span the bounds of being ; on the heights, Towards which my face is set, behold, I swear To greet thy spirit, be it late or soon Forth to the Light Forth to the height of God
To
My
The
tocsin call
Infinite
All Nature taking voice, her organ tone Has culminated in a single cry
Of clamorous accordance, urging on The arrow to the Star ascends Speed on mortal channel comes immortal speech. Through
! !
The
A ROVER'S HYMN
Once
I
Now
the soul-flights rarely rise Further than thy dear grey eyes There my fervours pouring.
245
still
Fancy
Now
Through
it
Round
for
And
darksome
forest haunts.
Open
Where the Kraken lies asleep, Where the last star quivers, Where the message of existence Through the darkness and the distance-
Then beyond
space and time, Far transcending speech or rhyme, Out of thought's dimension. That one midmost point to win
all
Which
By
all secrets
centre
in,
a soul-ascension.-
May
me
"
these
Nature's
primal sanities high Truth's unfolding In such dreams my life exhaled, Till thy tender form unveil'd
And
Unto my
beholding.
246
A
Then
Rover
Hymn
the light of rose and gold Gather'd up from vale and wold, From the sky descended, Drifted off the open sea. Came and draped thy symmetry In a garment splendid.
At
its first
appearing.
Melody of merle
in copse,
How
thy laughter's
absorbs
it
silver lightness
its
And
brightness,
straightway
Now the sunset lights may kindle, Now the mild moon wax and dwindle,
Voice of winds keep
calling.
While the Alpine hills point o'er me. While the long paths wind before me,
Falling, rising, falling.
is
o'er
more
Through
Roving and exploring ; Past the beauty of thy face Do I look to greet Christ's grace.
In love daily soaring.
247
Balancing and proving, Lost the vista, lost the vision. Sinking all the sense of mission
In the sense or loving
?
Nay, thou
art an
open
sea,
And
green world fair and free Meet for love's emprising ; In the depths of thy grey eyes
a
Brood
thousand mysteries
Souls
may
sink or rise
in.
Magian world I enter There the ravish'd thinker wanders Ever there the rover ponders
;
VISION OF STARS
stood a vacant throne,
On a lonely height Raised up, the world commanding, he beheld. Who reign'd thereon, the plane of time and change Far reach below him. Passion and anguish there Play parts, but the illuminated soul From such great height with steadfasteyes unmovedIn silence watch'd, the issues and the qx\^. To him reveal'd, the worth and meaning known. Thus was it but to distant heights undream'd
!
248
A
The
Its ancient seat
Vision of Stars
Who
and he, with anxious mind, ; o'er those spheres spreads wide his sacred rule,
council held
afar.
The Great Star-King, most solemn With messengers and heralds from
But not from out
his
own
divine estate,
Nor
realms beyond, was suppliant known whose eyes Unflinching view'd the vast and varied charge. The lonely life, the splendour, view'd unchill'd Behold in Star-Land stood that vacant throne
. . .
None found
to
fill
it
Then
Tremendous King, by angels bright at length Sent tidings down to Star-Land, and the Great
Star-King rose joyful from his throne sublime Long prayer was answer'd found a soul unstain'd It dwelt on earth To fill that empty seat Not all unconscious of its destiny.
But, dedicate to ministries most high. In hopes though half defined in yearnings vague sacred impulse prompted aye to seek By The Source of Light, at least to gifted eyes
Made evident its origin divine Thy shining soul, my white one, my
dear,
my
dove
The Star-King paused at hearing, mused a space, Then pass'd in silence through his lonely hall, Its pavement vast as ocean, and its dome As heaven remote. Upon the gleaming wall Of that most awful temple there was hung
Magic Glass
Constrain'd all souls to manifest within Its lucent crystal. There he fix'd awhile
His
And
eyes illuminated, clear, profound. soon a thin flame started, light and pure,
In brilliance, beauty waxing, till thy self In semblance perfect shone reflected there.
249
Presence that uiform'd the place " It Breathed once thereon, then answer'd is well His phantom shews no blemish," There was now The hour of earthly sunset sank day's god. stealthy, secret whisper of the wind Among the leaves and grass had call'd me forth, And I went musing into meads and down Dark cypress groves. Therein my thoughts were
The Mighty
wrapp'd
time.
One Voice of
When
Brightness,
was pass'd.
ranks
me onward, through uimumber'd Of radiant intelligences, priests And princes of eternity I paused
Still call'd
;
Before that veil which hides the Holy Place The light unbearable in mercy hides. This veil was moved by agency within stream of flame and scorching heat intense
in shafts upon me, and my soul Beneath it shrivell'd like an autumn leaf, Till one word sounding in the light made strong My failing nature by its power divine. Thy destiny surpassing strange, supreme, Thy star ascending in the house of life. With light and glory through the infinite, That mystic word impress'd on heart and mind. It lives in sense of mission and of high Election, but the awful sound is lost For flesh-confined intelligence no more May dare to formulate, nor human speech Express it, nor this element too gross Of earthly air to that most subtle sound Give life in its vibrations. But in dreams It searches still, and still by dreams my soul Is lifted into Star-Land ; there I see Thy vacant throne await thee on that height
Was pourM
250
A
Of
earth to ^Ether
!
Wraith-Way
God
;
About
the
man
it
leads in spite of
all
self,
The
my
life
herald of the stern, primeval, strong Star-King, I gather for thy crowning day All gentle souls together, all pure souls. The silent spaces round thy lonely throne To people with intelligence and love. Behold, my thought that chosen band depicts
.
.
vow'd to thee My spirit in eternity's most vast, God-haunted regions loses life and thought
the world exalted,
!
Above
And
There
sinks in dizzy circles, while thine own finds its eyrie, there its native air,
Mount, mine eagle, Translucent, tranquil. Thy light supreme, thy lone, uplifted state,
I
mount
see reveal'd
starry prince
infinity receives
Over
By
Is
the bridge and athwart the stream, path that I call my own
another land that I visit in dream. And dreamers term it the world unknown. The paths are clouded, the hollows are dim.
Is
a pallid and misty host moving there with a vacant air. For this is the Land of Ghost. a
But
As
O
Do
you hear, as I hear, the waters roll In the rain of the tears of those who
251
mourn
:"
A
The
darkness deepens, the darkness spreads shrink from the downward track Which far through the hollow takes those who follow, For who that descends comes back ?
We
But there
falls a night, or a
day
will
dawn,
withdrawn
cold.
;
hold.
Over the grey lawns shrouded and Over the brook by the bridge we go,
behind
But dole or laughter, who knows what Or what of the end assigned ?
after,
Who
knows
Who
knows
From
Perchance on a spectral host. Far over a resonant, splendid tide, Back we shall gaze on a Land of Ghost For a Land of Ghost is this land of life, With its phantom joys and woes From a great true dream upon pomps which seem, We shall gaze at that last who knows ?
WHEREFORE, COURAGE
Along
There
is
no wave
in sight
With gentle ripple and with sad, faint sound. The evening tide flows in. A wind from shore Blows cool by fits dark clouds about the West Take angry colours and the blue looks dim.
;
When
Will
o'er the sea that pale blue light looms forth. not one star above the waters shine
tide
and coast ? But, see, the moon a slender line of light late born Shews faintly towards the West, 'twixt stormy clouds.
252
The Reaper
MANIFESTATION
within the chair not previously there ; voice spoke in the darkness then More subtly than the voice of men The message in the ear it spell'd Was one great secret long withheld And while I live, or when I die,
sat
FIGURE
Which was
Grave
where
is
thy mystery
THE REAPER
In simple dreams, I see thy shy blue eyes Upraised to scan thy sphere of earthly work, Which spreads like fields all ripe with corn and wheat. The harvest waits, be thou the reaper there ; The barns of God stand empty, fill them thou
There
is
hand
Reap
well, reap
that
lie
when
. .
.
bound
;
No
In
I
autumn
may
to rot without
and cold.
The
days go by
see the
mellow moon
in the starless
South
Her magic disc increase. ... Is thy work done } Hard hast thou toil'd, thou hast not thought of self; The priest of labour thou, by toil made priest.
Thy work
The wind
accomplished
is
thy
sacrifice.
To
begins across the naked fields breathe and stir, among a thousand sheaves It laps and lingers. Lo, the moon hath set faint uncertain light about the East
!
it
falls
253
A
And
The And
on thy prostrate form ; shines keen and blue well-used sickle ; at thy side it lies ; thy right arm about the latest sheaf This night has stiffen'd. Now, the morning breaks bear the harvest in ; the barns are closed ; They The grain is reckon'd ; there is none left out. Thy spirit voice repeats the festal hymn In God's great harvest home
!
Turning out a lilting verse Here a flash of fancy caught, There an artful image wrought Could be better, might be worse
The
too
light, fantastic
rhyme
:
Who
hit!
He
that runs
may
read in
it.
its
transient plan
Peal from out the ages gone Other times shall yet behold
Singers oome with mouths of gold Till then let it babble on.
254
D oom
DOOM
dreadful, most exalted doom future waits. soul Is taken hence And set full often by a stormy sea
I
KNOW some
My
My
Arrests the inv/ard being. There are clouds some wild art of a winter wind Heap'd by In wild confusion. There is saffron light
lurid rifts. The verge is tooth'd by waves, The whole sky torn by tempest. There are sharp And bulging headlands, promontories bleak,
Through
And
melancholy miles of winding coast. stones and seaweed strewn. No sea-mew cries 1 stand, wind-wrapp'd, and dream deep dreams thereby, Or wander aimless, waiting, hush'd and white.
With
Some Mine
convulsion in the boding sky. eyes are fixed upon the raving waste Of whirling waves, and, utterly apart From sympathy or voice of man, I face
fierce
The
mysteries of being.
The doom.
But has not
My
fail'd.
spirit
An
;
inspiration
comes
From wretchedness
Through Nature
strength ; convulsed, terrific moods. The secret hidden by external things, I know this terrible and rending scene Is threshold of revealment. That rent sky Will open suddenly, in depths serene sunset all of majesty and light
in
in desolation,
255
A
And
Will lead imagination on from world To world of thoughts ineffable. Some ray Will fall full redly on the restless sea
soothe its tortured surges, smoothing out path of magical and mystic light all its Salt breeze and rosy splendour length
My
With
soul, uplifted in a mighty trance. faculties made clean, with tranquil step, the Land of Light Will swiftly traverse. ...
To
The
;
Dream preludes vision like a flower of flame, Unfolds high vision into truth attain'd ;
Thy
magnet draws thee on world of mind Where blessed hierarchies of perfect life Are gleaming round thee, poised and sphered at length The heights unknown of supersensual things
;
...
in the
Prolong their vistas. Thou art taught thereby Thou art inspired an end of all is seen As naked and unutterable truth Whose essence is the Deity reveal'd.
;
The
I
vision into night recedes. soul descends, and in some wondrous stand and look into my Lady's eyes,
way
The whole
outward things significance of Unrolls before me, as a scroll unwinds, And in the hyaline and crystal depths Of her unspotted spirit do I read
Infinities
of meaning.
256
T^he
Rosy Cross
A FOUNDATION OF HOPE
A A
shall then be
strong
To vindicate the right, reject the wrong And follow in the path where we would go. little while, my friends, will that be long ? Life is so short ah, no
THE ROSY
1
CROSS
;
SAW before me loom an ancient house One portal there, with mystic words inscribed,
Had
in its centre
Law
Thy
In
I
burning
star,
wonder
:
lost, in ecstasy
stood Thou spirit Thou crown'd adept, thy long probation done. Was that the Temple of the Rose and Cross ?
Speak, hierophant
!
Who
Who
leads
me
in
Smooth gleams
golden
hair,
With comely
those
Whose
eyes are
Which
Elsewhere
He
sunshine seem like golden grey. deep ? His mien is high bears the fragrance of the morning rose
in the
as violets
Round
VOL.
all his
I.
form
his
hand
257
is
raised to bless.
A
About
Garden of
his eyes
his
Spiritical Flowers
all
Whene'er
look up
heaven looks
down
path the snowdrop sprouts in spring, Burst buds in blossom upon thorn and tree ;
His voice
And
Fills
all
all solitudes, all silent peaks, the spacious, cool, translucent air.
;
His name is Spring with melodious souls. His name is Eos, born of dews and light His are a thousand names in one contain'd. Before the Threshold of the Mysteries, Before the Temple of the Rose and Cross,
;
Before the secret, sacred, inmost shrine. In white refulgent, as he wont, array'd. He stands in beauty and with open hands He welcomes in " " The Light of Christus " cries, And ranged in lines behind, "Eternal Truth! and the scalds of old, I see the sages
:
Shines
thousand pontiffs and a thousand kings Moses there, and Plato brightly shines And I see the Hermes of the Burning Belt,
!
The
Enoch
there
IN EXCELSIS
Voice
THEMA
Bright One,
Chaste as lily, mild as dove. Brave as eagle, fair as love, Fold us,
Hold
us,
!
Lead above
258
Aurelia
Mystic mountains all untrod We shall pass, with patience shod
Featly,
;
Lead
Sweetly, to God
AURELIA
on an August sea
From zone to zone of dream, I look'd and saw, Through the mauve spaces of litten air at noon, Some sudden land-breeze bear a frighten'd moth
Far and away,
its frail
Could my stretch'd hand have reach'd it, I had borne That blithesome insect gladly back to shore It pass'd, blown onward, in the sunlight lost And distance. Like a death-trap gleam'd the bay Beneath it, and the dancing waves drew down As magnets draw those drooping, wearied wings.
Where
Might
I
the poor, pitiful, bewilder'd thing rest in truth, though not return to shore
it,
Were
And
One
I prize the spirit He pours in me, sacred hold for this the meanest life Which shares my treasure ; so a pang pass'd through
God knows
heart for this sea-drifted butterfly soul in fancy to herself assumed That feeble shape and beat in fancy there.
!
My
On
259
A
Leap up
The swirling tide beneath her felt the salt And cold sea-spray her tiny wings benumb And sinking, shrinking, saw those shining waves
to meet her ; while the death therein Because so foreign to a field-born life For her seem'd dreadful. But to-night I stand With all man's spirit by the wind made strong, And I see eastward an advancing cloud
fill the midnight sky ; high grey sea beats sullenly, its crests Of seething foam a white, weird light give out. As now that sea swells, on the wide beach chafing, The heart expands within me, and the roar Of breakers surging on the sand and stones Wakes, in the deeps within, an answering voice. Which speaks behind the soul, is clear, is loud.
Of
stormy sable
The
Say, sorrow suffer'd may be progress made ; Say, pain can lift the nature which endures ;
But
believe,
beyond
all
pain and
if
grief.
That death
lifts life.
Friends,
The
Shall
stedfast spirit, through its tortures true. we not hold that hard, untimely deaths,
.^
In some peculiar, undetermined way. May compensate the natures wrung thereby Does the bird whose nest proves it error
Who
.^
Is scorch'd about her in a burning wood, Yet who'll not leave the five white eggs within. Win nothing from endurance } No new sense From that new, terrible and splendid scene Unfolding round her? The bird's soul (believe it !) Goes forth inform'd from those singed plumes of hers,, With some new sense indelibly endow'd And greaten'd by it. The drown'd insect too. Did that win nothing from the shining waste 260
The Ifivocation
Of waves about it ? Lord of life, thereon The sun-born creature faced immensity One aspect of the vast and awful truth Of solemn life intense this wind's light toy Faced once and perish'd. From the sea-drench'd The quicken'd essence issues forth enlarged.
;
shell
hast the soul brought forth thank, thee, Lord, roots of perfect life, From everlasting That no life dies, howe'er minute or mean,
I
Who
But multiplies
its
nature
in the flesh
;
And individual strength by death renews That every crevice of the earth is fill'd
With
plenitude of being, which indeed
strive
but it grows through all. of life springs life again Beyond each turn Face death then calmly, be it thine or mine ; Look onward, upward, both for beast and man Aye, even this sea-drifted butterfly
May
and
suffer,
THE INVOCATION
By
By By By By
the woodland deep and green. the starlight's silver sheen, the Moon-Queen's mystic light,
this
Ho
Leet of Elfin,
Iris
these groves belong And by laws of ancient date. Found in scrolls of Faerie Fate,
Unto whom
Throng,
Stream and font are dedicate Wheresoe'er your wings may gleamVistas on the verge of dream, 261
;
set
Hearts and hearths of human kind Better suit the elfin mind. We adjure you, keep no more Homeless state on splendid shore, But with spells of magic birth
Here
in
Ye may
Can ye wish for softer bed Than the moss that here is spread Here the mavis' voice is heard.
Every
Here
late and early bird ; the tendril's slender string Deftly hangs, a faerie swing ; Purling brooks and founts that play
;
Make sweet music night and day And in lakes which stedfast lie
Under Heaven's The blown lilies Each to serve as
eternal eye,
waiting
float,
elfin boat.
Who
Linger,
not
the woods are dark and lonely There the throstle calleth only There alone the throstle calleth
Still
As
the silent twilight falleth. All the old mage-spells are broken, All the ancient charms unspoken
:
262
l^he
Invocation
shall teach
Who
to
human tongues
That forgotten sylphid speech By whose aid the weirds of old Did with Nature commune hold
'Tis the darken'd human heart Whence the Elfin Lords depart Ye who now this loss deplore, All who would their reign restore,
!
Seek from mystic gifts of sight Hallows for the heart of night Seek for depths of thoughts serene Soften'd through the deeps of green^.
;
For the open eye which looks Further than the life of books,
about
it lie
all veils, revealing truly Elfin worlds in rapt clairvoyance, Elfin marvels. Elfin joyance,
Fay-built
Elfin vistas. Elfin vision, Elfin voices, dreams elysian. isles and seas that be
Glamour
all
and gramarye.
Where
wing
Worlds of pure imagining Then where wonder rules the heart Thence shall fairies ne'er depart
!
263
AZALEA
Our
The
what morning sleep is over now beautiful and visionary night,
:
dawns
all its length, by winds inform'd, and spiritual night, worshipful Has in this daylight disillusion grey Been sadly merged. The prose of life on earth And here I stand alone Begins to speak. One billow broke upon the bay far out This moment pass'd ; it flash'd a seething crest,
Moon-haunted
Then fell. What space for inspiration now What magic left } What message in the sea } The once bright-shining moon is bleak and white
.?
burnt to cinders. When the trees were draped solemn darkness, in their mien was awe, By Their aspect majesty, their rustling leaves Dodonian prophecy they were mighty thoughts.
And
Now
as a part
once more
Of vegetative nature, they stand stripp'd Of poetry and meaning. The lark's song
Is some mere singing of a morning lark That engine's drawn out, melancholy shriek
;
And
its
golden
close.
bitterness There is no human word Which gives expression to the craving depth Of desolation foss'd in human hearts
;
Choke sympathy by commonizing grief. 1 made by magic in a winter month An Eden-garden full of holy bloom
:
The
blessed lotus in
its
lakes abode
264
Azalea
With stately sv/ans, and all its paths were By lustrous lilies. Thine azaleas filled
lined
therein the strength of spirit on thy dreams spent To crowd the sacred hush of mystic sleep With all high-speaking images. I search'd The world of mind to build thy maiden bed, In amaranthine bowers, with purple blooms
I
The consecrated air with grateful light, From myriad blooms. Thou hadst no care
Of dim, inviolable violets Their scented heads received thy psychic limbs And soften'd moss beneath. But morning broke Then was a latch upon the garden gate
:
Uplifted by thy voluntary hand place of our dream-light thy beauty's human grace Has chosen earth.
.
Above
A blush of morning dim and wavering line of downs Far flashing sanguine glory up the sky That lofty and immeasurable arch Transforms from grey to lavender, and fills
the
;
bursts
With sudden
ecstasy of
morning birds
....
:
The charm arrested leaves thee clay once more Thou art not wholly false nor wholly true The world, God knows, may leaven thee. But me The dream shall hearten the earth's part dissolves,
;
God's part remains, whilst thou hast fallen short Of immortality and beatitude. There was no height beyond the power of soul To scale for thee. There was no height beyond Those heights to which my spirit should itself
Have
lifted thee.
And
I see thee deck'd with pearls turquoise rings; the splendours brought from East
265
Garde7i of Spiritual Flowers And West invest thy body. Thou art clothed
With
sole
thought
In these, or mated unto man of earth, Ascribe thee true beatitude therein }
wast a
And
As god
How
art
thou
fallen,
Lucifera
Which meets
O
my
somewhere Light-
If
I'll
my
soul.
DISTRACTION
Shall
a poet whose office is high For the heights, say, a moment unapt, Descend some distraction to try
And
adapt
itself
266
Distractio7t
'TIs
assumed he must cleave to his part But may seek with conventions to toy,
if
See
And Phyllis well-favour'd may seem When the pipes of a Colin give ease
In his dream.
Of a
There's not much in this, as we know Shall he turn with an amorous gaze,
courtlier mistress or so
Singing praise
Or
Shall he give
rhyme's chance
We
Or
may doubt if distraction in these Can be won from his call overlong.
that
are
It is true, in a different
is
way
And
the ends which are far out of reach, Green earth and the sky that is blue Exceeding, please most for our speech Me and you.
And the sheep to the shepherds who tend, Since the themes which are old will be old To the end.
267
To
go
there.
IMMANENCE
The
down and cliff, Pause with me, By this rude stile ; and, through those mellow browns Of autumn bushes on the broken slopes, Behold the sea below, the vault above,
wind without But here is perfect
is
wild on
shelter.
The
I
scarce seen
!
suspended, white and thin count it good to stand, as now we stand. This resonant September afternoon, And, past the twisted shapes of elm and beech. To see the low, slow, sounding waves far down Churn'd on the rocks and stain'd by yellow sand
Advance
incessantly.
!
Now
cool
the
stir
and
stress
leaves, alone from sight shuts out blazingr autumn sunset's scene sublime. t3
The
Are flaming strangely- Now the night descends At once the turf looks cold, forlorn and grey Once more the hill we climb Our steps retrace
!
!
is the world ablaze } Green, orange, crimson Are those loose black The churn'd sea burning
.?
clouds.
Which, with the wind, pass off from North to East, The smoke thereof.? It is the sunset see Confess the Presence watch, but speak no more
268
trium Suspiri.
THE
According
SOUL'S LINEAGE
to our measure and extent, Despite long exile in these regions dim, must from God compute our soul's descent, alone is bent, Seeing the soul on
We
Him
And must
in that
SUSPIRIUM
Where
thou ? Where? Speak to me once divide Cold grave and dark, This dreadful hush of death Did that hold anything of her I love Soul-adjuration and heart-agony Should vitalise the remnants into life Thou dost not sleep So should I hear of thee In the wide measures of eternity Thou art av^ake, abroad but where art thou ? Give me a sign upon the sky to know
art
!
Or
let
From
thy tears fall, light as softest down dreaming swan upon a pool's still breast.
if tears
be thine.
Oh
An
lady, thou didst once, a moon at night Shine burnish'd with a pale and psychic grace,
From
all hard outlines of reality Into a face of dream, which melted all And the waste world about thee fiU'd with love, As thy soul's magic fill'd the sphere of life
!
down
269
A
And
And
And Was
earth's
Turns
to a
hence the mercy of all-patient God my grey youth. But thou wast martyr'd more who now art crown'd. So for thy sufferings' sake, my love, my loss And the long dereliction of my days, I swore to wear thenceforth a life unstain'd, That none should suffer who environ'd me So did a heart of pity and pure love With leaping pulses fill the chords of life And there is none that I have wrong'd not one.
written in agony through
:
Therefore,
pray thee,
end
have kept
;
Pure for thy sake, I place. Let the still air Give up the soft light of thine eyes and come
Come
Strong
in
in
thy mildness
or, that
boon denied.
to thee
!
my
yearning, bid
me go
That poor ambition and unwise content, Which, in the midst of veil and semblance,
soul of true realities bereft
those prerogatives of human mind Whereby the soul at last leaves veils behind.
And
270
Fragmentum
FRAGMENTUM
I
LOOK behind on
all
my
former
life,
The masque of strange succession in events, The weirds unfinish'd, the impending dooms,
Whereon, with even mind, with chosen speech, I muse this day while, sunk in deepest thought,
;
Thou
standest by me, patient, unperturb'd. Leaf-blinds are drawn ; the late sun shines without
On
all this
bower
is
fiU'd
With
Thou, reserved and cold. things familiar. Dost hear my tale ; setting and atmosphere
How
What
formal, friend, and yet what secret things What dark thoughts, haunting everthoughts
! ! !
more
sudden flash, before the eyes of mind Passing at times, takes all our heart away, As rapture caught Elias we are lost To earth and time, far in some place of dream.
:
As
sees the
How How
What
warden of the castle walls, stretch the pastures wide and darkling woods, the vales dimple, how the light streams wind.
silver shining
speaks of sea beyond So in light richer than our landscapes know, Yon ocean splendour, past all fair romance, Interprets its bright pictures to the heart By words no more, but living images. Once, from the realms thereof, we drew that light, Exalting Nature but the thoughts, my friend The dark, dread thoughts the deeps behind the gleam, And in those depths abysses, gloom unpierced
;
Now
is
pass'd,
271
A
Take
That
The road slopes after ; its descent to reach the streamlet, and with stones Is steep Made rough to save the horses. Do you mark
breath.
Our path bridge which spans the burn ? Before us to the left An old church looms ; a growth of ivy there Shews in the evening light its splendid green dial all the day On tower and nave.
little
Goes over
it.
Tells time in silence on the southern side. Here swirls the shallow water ; did you catch That flashing fin.? See, in this hole curl'd round, So we reach speckled eel is sleeping.
The
Who dwells therein long white-fronted house. The water on a single side Patience Washes the ample lawn ; at brink thereof,
!
}'
Wide
spreads the walnut-tree, a stately growth, above the waters drooping. here is the trysting-place. Peace, brother soul
Perchance things lesser in the end shall save Things greater, and the least is also first.
WITNESSES OF SILENCE
Man's
heart is for himself a volume writ In cipher, having no true key to it ; And other hearts discourse on every side
Language, to which no
lips
have
e'er replied.
272
Hard
Saying
A HARD SAYING
Unselfish love, which would true aims fulfil, Must be what men call mean, must make unask'd
advances, and a cold response, Rebuffs and misconceptions overlook, To prosecute its end, which is to give.
first
The
For
devotion.
This confess'd,
Some
From thought
from
all
great ends whereto, since early days Elected, souls must strive and, striving, see New fields of labour opening far beyond
Of those
Into the infinite. Then, Love, awhile, Such heights forsaking, unto some green place, Like this, in vernal hours or in the soft Luxuriant summer prime, from high degrees
Exemption find or take the grade of Renouncing not. With all our doom Such respite gives the greater strength
peace.
foreseen, to bear.
Puts by the sense of whole unworthiness, Or lifts it up into our aid unask'd Who cannot choose but deem our souls unmeet, O Love of all, for love of thine and thee Yet only love us, and in love like thine. Our soul's love-flaming shall be meet to hold, O love beyond all love, the love of thee
!
!
VOL.
I.
273
ONE REFUGE
old convention's sad calamityafter weary days, our path permit Shall, issue undeterr'd and free
When
To
What
then remains
Forest and woodland world, the green, Far-sparkling plains ? Or fair Romance to lead the lines of it O'er azure seas serene ?
if
The soul alone would be Of old we trod, With shackled limbs, a thousand ways of care What profits freedom till it ends in God ?
OTHER MANHOODS
Be sure that, ever from the birth Both earth and sea are sentiently
thereof.
alive
And
in
the cosmic
harmony perform
hymn
The leaf which shrivels in the hand can feel, Though it be feebly, and the bud which lifts
head to catch the sunlight or the dew Here something in us prompts and forces faith Discerns, though dimly, moisture, light and heat As life and health and happiness. Through all That lives some form of consciousness pulsates
274
And
not
all
Sharing some
Pours forth
Is
The beauty of
Is
it
in his
own degree
therefore poet, since the gift is his. The conscious use and simple love thereof.
Some evolution now on earth undream'd, Are any heights forbidden him ? Who knows ?
This only
ourselves,
of sense, well up, of leaf and bud. Strange pasts at times And we who know not truly what we are Know also not, yet guess, what once we were.
the
Above
For ever keeping thine appointed course What hope of rest is thine } What native source Dost thou for peace seek out } The days go by There comes no end in sight, no haven nigh What impulse prompts thee on thy starry road } Ah, shine Thy splendours bless this dark abode
With mild
effulgence
fill
Solitary Lady, we have grown Our eyes so long on thy long journey fix'd to be, like thee, alone.
Almost content
Our
PATHS OF ZION
"
.
^mor
. .
amare
hiCzxz
vii.
est."
Confess.
^ntor
ocultis ist
Sancti
AuGusTiNi, Lib.
cap. lO.
Paths of Zion
MINISTRIES OF GRACE
the grace of God a thousand gates Lie open round us ; neither bar nor lock Prevails ; and there is nothing in the world
Gates of
Which
asks to keep
its
All are set forth for worship. Nature's scrolls Lie written and over-written everywhere Without, within the hidden meanings sing, Great symbols shout, till knowledge fills the soul.
Not
Changed suddenly
The
common things the precious metal shines. jewel, native to the heart of each.
into gold
Bear witness, Sons of Song, that not in vain with God's true gift of eyes Shall any man Explore the windings of a bosky road, Hedge-bound by spring-time green or summer's wealth
;:
in holt or chase
quiet homestead
watch
in
welkin light
While rooks round windy nests in circles wheel And by the symmetry of motion shame
Their own discordant notes or contemplate The gracious fusion of a beechen grove
;
With From
ancient, sombre, solitary firs. grass to star, whatever lives lays bare
and an infinite behind. eye shall not be satisfied indeed For evermore with seeing till an eye Turns inward, looking for the God within.
Its virtues
The
279
Paths of Zion
Yet each and all of these, or kindred boons, Reward our sight and thanks are therefore due Alike for object and for instrument Till God's transcendence swallows up in fine God's immanence.
;
My
Her one
Seal'd
praise
is
render'd
now
on
From hawthorn
new-mown
I
hay,
Here
country-stile and suddenly take note Above that stretch of level sward and bush
cross
mist leaves bare the downs beyond again, while twilight closes round, How in the shadow of this old church-porch, Old tombs beside me I can hear, far off, The solemn washing of an open sea. As if the voice of everness spoke out In time, news giving of a home for souls.
lifting
How
Once and
Voice and the Word for ever ; timeless sense Past all this sense of time ; an issue found Through things that are into the great and good How end then therefore, save in man himself That gate which ever, in the least and most, open God ward ? Listen, Sons of Song
Swings
Whoever on
Dwells with pure eyes, heart-fill'd and moved to prayer, Has kiss'd with worship a responding mouth. Give me still Lays treasures for the heart up The end heroic and the term sublime
. . .
!
All these
may
lead thereto
love most
is
path
!
End, and an end in God His end and ours O crown us at that last for evermore 280
!
PART
^t
Amongst
STijts
kintjuti scrapljs,
ijiti
(rom men
^ISSi'tljlirabin
in burning nimbus.
TO^at remains ?
lo&e.
fareping inorlti
im
STo
lift
IN CIVITATE DEI
The
MAGNA
And
As
It
is
city is dusty ^ the streets are long. the sky overhead looks dim ;
it is fiird with a thought of thee. the church with the chanted hymn.
But, ah !
As
fiird with the memories bright of thee, the spirit with grace divine ;
If a sufib earn fall upon path or wall I know "'tis a smile of thine.
Comes
Thy
Sounds there a voice that is sweet and low, I know thy voice is near ; Gleams there a face that is fair to see.
Wherever thy form may dwell, I know it is thou by the zvhite, white brow.
Thou
spirit of Israfel I
0, I shall stand in a moment more Where oft thy feet have trod.
Which now
That leads
the
Mount
of
God !
As
ever they press on their forward There falls on the pilgrim'' s face
way
That shines
283
Paths of Zion
II
EIDOLON
eye but mine is on the shifting waste, poised upon this steep cliff's utmost rim I watch the world of waters. Many times Have I thank'd God for that most perfect line Wherewith the still sky rings the restless deep
No
As
;
;
For passing ships for tides which come and go For cultivated fields with ample curves
;
Sloping and sweeping shoreward ; for the glare Day long on rough white chalk ; for silent caves For shelter'd coves and shallows known to few For waste and lonely places unenclosed, Which ocean peoples with a thousand voices.
;
But now
my
One
face
the shadow'd prospects of my life Exalted sacredly, like Dian's horn, When out of mists, from mead and marsh escaping She soars and finds the zenith.
Is o'er
Israfel,
That
stand and think of thee, Till thought evokes thine image it is poised In glory above these waters. To the sky
face
is
thine.
Thy
The
turn'd, thy holy hands are clasp'd,wind gently lifts and floats thy hair. light White vestures also by the wind are trail'd
face
is
Surrounds thy body and its waist is girdled With white and fragrant lilies ... I have clothed A human form in dreams with angel-hood, And evermore a spirit in my heart It dwells. Transfigur'd, thou hast pass'd from earth
284
The stature of immortal life is thine. Exempt from passion, weakness, pain and
ever a reserved, remote, Translated life. And having lifted thee Above this world's modalities, meseems That this most blessed vision beyond all
live
change.
Dost thou
The meekness, modesty and grace thereof Have nourish'd and enhanced it. Thou alone
Didst prompt the vision, and all light thereof Is shrined in thee. That manifested life. Before earth-eyes presented, has reveal'd An inner self which more than fleshly form
Is thine,
is
thought
thou.
thou.
Thou art not yet perchance In full fruition of that nobler part, For in these daily ways the man divine
Holds chiefly from the lesser self aloof Some beams shine o'er it and in warmth does
;
love
Descend thereon, to link the flesh therewith But perfect union of the twain on earth
Is
compass'd rarely. When the heart is cleansed. heart draws toward it ; when mere life of sense Sinks down subdued and unimpeded mind In conquest towers, then mind and vesture both
The
Abide transfigured in the light thereof, For flesh when order'd v/ell can also shine.
Thou
Has
I
in
such light art dwelling, and thy face like a mirror to inward eyes
my
I
From
To
so far true self lapsed that no ray enters in beautify the temple's outer courts,
285
Paths of Zion
Which
never therefore to pellucid sight Reveal the brilliant spectrum of that high,
part.
I
:
Undying
Waves
And
stand beside the sea rises, falls an autumn night ; swell, as that moon doth, when the darkness deepens,
wind
Her own
face brighten more, thy face grows Amidst the inward darkness of the world.
fairer
Thy
Ascending daily
also
With thy great love suffused, by a most strong. Immortal love of thee suffused, transform'd. I look to see thee, in the world beyond. With God made one for ever in thy soul
:
May May
The
this
with strength.
orb'd
moon
Descending night portray the veils that hide All paths henceforth but those which lead to heights
May it hide all tarnish'd love. To perfect state exalting love for thee May that my spirit sanctify and seal. And for thy love may I the world itself
Untravell'd
!
By mine own labours seal and sanctify. Then make the guerdon of that sacred task One new star shining in thy crown of life
My
saint,
my
light,
my
symbol,
Israfel
Ill
in thee
And
priestly vigils
God knows, my saint, I might have held with thee The human intercourse of friend and friend Speech might have pass'd between us, our warm hands Have clasp'd at greeting and at parting time.
;
dost thou watch thine eyes and mine Does thy heart also swell ? Soars all thy nature upward, gazing there Pure soul, high soul ? gracious communings,
:
rising
Are
Strong love of friend and friend, by me renounced, That in a mirror of the mind preserved
Thy
My
And
with
me
For, like a spirit from the sea's white spume At eve ascending, lo, thy Symbol rose
draws
me on
for ever.
!
Moon
of Faith,
The potent sign Such spells evoked pours down its light on thee it draws This is no dream thy human self; Thou art daily raised, It takes thee starward.
Vision of Christ unseen
;
and shifting sea, far down Thine eyes behold the flux of mortal things A restless waste below thee toss perturb'd. Still on the sacred height thy glorious moon Of spirit manifest in lambent flame Shall glow for ever before the veil of God.
Till, like a cold
Poise,
in the
cold
!
And
Are
starry spaces poise thy shining shield Behold, as shadows on the road, are cast
Our meaner
in
And
thy light transfigured ; paths that end not tempt us sweetly forth; thousand lofty hopes inspire the heart
287
Paths of Zion
Which from
Thou
a lonely zenith of the soul pourest downward, as the moon her beams, Mystic Moon, enthroned in heaven of mind
!
IV
TO OTHER ENDS
He
Lux
glides before us with the torch of Christ, Christi crying in this night of time
:
On
Or
I
his
Dwells
so, chaste
its
and passionless.
His beauty
lifts its
utters
glass of vision.
life
its
read man's
fallen
Has
Of
all the words volume take a fresh, Unlook'd for meaning. Evermore betwixt
on
pages
that close-written
The
lines of its enigmas shall I read His gracious message and the peace thereof, His creed of hope.
I hear it even now. dream. The opal twilight Though And in the silentness of mere and mead
this be
falls,
church-bell summons to the vesper-hymn. thy voice which bids me also forth Is that the music of thy heart most pure Which in the pauses of the whirl of thought Sends forth its summons like a bell to me I will not stay to take up staff and scrip. To count the things I leave or bid farewells. Mine empty hands can bear Behold, I come Whatever burdens may seem well to thee.
Is that
.? .?
!
288
heights of life, desired and sought so long faintly limn'd against the furthest sky
altitudes
beyond them.
I
A
I
calling,
nothing
behold of thee
voice alone
calls
upon
:
the mountain-tops
Which
road is steep and wild nor pause. Ascend, bright spirit, with the speech of God heart is strong to follow and achieve ; But when those vision'd peaks of life I win, Return into some greater height above And lead me thus for ever still remote,
calls.
and
The
.^
come no
less
My
Which
and
calls.
AND
O WONDROUS
SO
FORWARD
mountain snow,
lustre of the
By sacred morning's light of gold inform'd, By golden morning's blessed light illumed, By magian light on all the airless crests Whatever storms may vex the world below. Whatever clouds may darken earth and sea
On
all
and
all
illumed
on such hills watch with straining eyes, angels While Christ still tarries in the House of Death Break, Rose of Morning, break in bright array Thy fragrance fills the spaces of the air.
saffron light of morning,
The weeping
Thy
VOL.
And, meseems,
T
289
Paths of Zion
It floods
my
house of
!
life
for evermore
The
start
is
made
Light, beauty, lead ; and lead, thou hand of God ; Call earth and sky ; calls mystic sea profound ; Life calls and death. The shining Crown of Life
And
My
thine uplifted nature's secret heights strengthen'd spirit to achieve sets out,
!
Saint Israfel
VI
HOW NATURE
I
HELPS
:
!
thy transient opal shines amethyst and opal deep. Thou sky of God, and all thy West aflame Ensanguined clouds across that gleaming vault Sail in the wind of sunset. Splendours bright, Your tinctures perish while I watch, but one
Shines in achievement, in lone beauty shines.
blue
The world
Is
Which
phantom
light.
:
in a rainy
The bleak wind stirs pallid death withdraws. trees. Far winds the path I take Complaining It is one voice invites, one star which leads,
shines through all
.
the
stretch
Faces towards yerusa/em Glows newly how the blue sky clears o'erhead
:
The long grass glitters in the light and wind. Thou wind, sing on thou clear, discoursing stream, Make gladsome music Neither storm nor gloom Are round me now. Fair winds the path I take
;
!
not night, nor seems it evening yet ; spring sun shines, and like a tocsin beats The heart of youth through all the smiling land. O'er all these open fields Sing on, thou lark
It
is
its
banks
And
The
me, nay. perchance This sun descending now with vapours veil'd Spreads light on miles of mead and marsh, immersed In April floods. The hedges and the trees Which out of waters rise cast lengthening shades Along the gleaming surface all around I hear the gentle lapse of little brooks, While not more cool than fragrant turns awhile
quest shall finish as
Because the dream supports me, Thy face once more. Thou wilt not
it
starts
The
South's soft
air.
VII
MASTER-BUILDING
Green
earth
is
sea
As
a child breathing on the breast asleep. There is no limit to the golden hopes
Which
There
light, like
is
Paths of
Zio7i
all
No
height beyond thee thou art strong for And all in turn renouncest land and sea,
:
Youth's kingship, youth's inheritance therein, And towards the perfect, hidden life in God
Directest only thy desiring eyes May thy high soul be throned o'er space and time Be thine the Secret Name, the Morning Star
: !
Like Michael soaring from celestial strife, I watch thee rise through surging mists of sense arm put forth, thy shapely head Thy strong right With striving face upturn'd and streaming hair
;
All light itself, into the light ascends. The rainbow-splendour of unspotted mind
Invests thee
now
subdued
Thine earnest lips the grace of soul invoke. The secret eye which sees and searches all,
The word of
Declared.
. .
With even
I see
pulse,
But now, with modest eyelids droop'd with cool and indrawn mien,
still in
:
thy white array'd. is thy victory. Who hast, triumphant by the strength of will, Compass'd thine end. Henceforth the voice of Teaches within, the spirit of Christ inspires.
thee stand,
Thou
speakest not
this
God
So dost thou issue from thy house of thought, With hands uplifted thou art priest and king. What dost thou seek among thy weaker kind The priestly sacredness of thine own self For man to offer in the name of God What angel dwells on earth cause divine. what earnest man of mien erect, Nay, ask In whose eyes shines the troth of other worlds.
:
'^.
Food Divine
292
My
call is
Thy coming out of realms unseen The work is done. Put off thy garments now, The lapse and wash of an eternal sea Stirs in the twilight hush. So pass therein ; The waters once above thy form will close,
But when thy head divides their surface calm Comes light, comes warmth of the eternal day. I ask no inspiration now from earth,
Or
A
I
former nature magnified. lead, in worlds unknown. Most saintly missions, of thy progress born Of God's deep counsels born for evermore.
see thy
And now
Be
May May
The
to gives us space to dream in praise for ever from our dreams and us ; noble acts be food for dreams still nobler
;
Him Who
Him
be one
VIII
293
Paths of Zion
Pass
all
it,
But on the pure, regenerated, free Ascending mind of man, on life's new age, shed thy beams Shine, mellow moon unwaning
;
Of
man
in thee
that remains
Wherewith we
And
that
imperishable,
spirit
is
By which thy
to
God
led up,
love,
human nature of our emblem pure, With whom may God remain in light and In life immortal and the Crown of Life
!
1 set
To To
my
Symbol,
fill'd
deep,
:
face,
shine in beauty
;
Take
it,
gentle world
!
Be worthy thou fulfil what wants in me So as the moon, new-born in month of May, Shall wax each night, this lamp of thine and mine Will amplify its purport. Should it prove That in far years the lustrous beams matured
Shall offer light
Remember him who set a beacon-torch On his own heights to burn, and greaten
Peace
fill
My
If
thy heart, while I go faring forth. to act. May all things great be thine part
from an apex past all dream I cry, Believe the news I send of realms unknown My friends, my lovers, and judge me worthy you
294
IX
book against the resurrection-day Song mystic of humanity divine, Achieved in one regenerated heart
A A
bright sidereal beacon, Israfel. swear, my brethren, by the Orphic faith. And by the faithful prophecies inscribed
I
Our
Deep in discerning souls, that starry hosts Lead on that spirit, and his reign is nigh.
among frankincense clouds, of melody ; his saffron hair pillar as he moves in grace Is a cloud of harpstrings And ministers, the ground beneath his feet
stands erect
He
music, like a sounding-board ; parted air about him slowly streams In God's Holy Place Into faint flute-notes. He wears himself the aspect of a god
Quivers
in
The
Has eyes and sees celestial hierarchies, With companies of martyrs and of saints Has lips which shape man's language to divine And voice it past the common range of sound,
;
To
Has
Find passage through wide galleries of soul, Wherein they circulate and amplify, As in white sea-shells tinged with coral pink All ocean's vastness hollowly resounds ;
295
Paths of Zion
Has hands
Among
Has
And
in his throat-
296
PART
II
FLOWERS OF PARADISE
"
^mor
Itansfoimat amantcm
fntrare
at(
m amatum, facit
et e
amantem
lit nifjt'I
intertora
amati
Doctor
contra,
Flowers of Paradise
PROEMIUM
GATES OF LOVE
thy voice which, deep in haunted glades, Expounds the passion of the nightingale ? Is that thy smile which on these Kentish cliffs Pours mellow warmth o'er miles of waving wheat
Is that
fragrance of thy breath In hyacinthine dingles, deeply sunk, Is it thou Possess'd by spells and incense ? Whose beauty's morn, in amaranthine blue And glory draped, looks down on joyful earth
on the gleaming
sea
And
From such unmeasured distance ? Hast thou won Thy dimpled whiteness from the sea-gull's wings. Thy splendour ravish'd from a raptured sky,
Thy freedom's grace from fountains, from Of brooding ocean such unsearchable
Or
the depths
Profundity of spirit-speaking eyes ? dost thou lend thy nature's secret wealth To garnish and intinct the world without ?
Sons of the Voice and Everlasting Peers, Who look to see the Bridegroom and the Bride, I bring you once again a little book Of transformation on the psychic plane
;
And may
Paths of Zion
look to see most mighty things of God Accomplish'd in the land of living men. The unprepared but pure hypostasis Is one fair-shining maid's simplicity sacramental type of hidden truth, Reality and beauty which transcend We are born with faces veil'd Expression. As Moses' was, to hide the god within May one translucid veil by Horeb's light Be here transfigured, earth and heaven be join'd In high Hermetic Marriage, which transmutes The world to gold. Discriminate between The letter and the spirit that indwells
I
Be then
all
magian
gifts,
life.
Peace, inspiration, pure imagining, Laurel and sacred palm and crown of
II
DIVINE MISSION
Imagination, vesting mortal form
With shadows
cast
My
Thy
minister
Magician of the Will, and thou, uplifted soul Directing both, Of inspiration and of poesy, A holy task is yours with power descend A life is put into your priestly hands To lead by lone and consecrated paths From realm to realm of ideality.
true intent
:
The panorama of
Is
supernaturally glorified.
300
Flowers of Paradise
high entrancement dwells on earth and sky, that flash that far-gleaming pageantry Of crumbling crests proclaiming open sea other selt-ness or my heritage. So one thing more to beautify and bless One human soul to deify one maid To fill with immortality one deep, Illuminating, infinite dream of love
On
My
thank Thee for this bracing mountain-air Which rectifies all faculties of soul. I Thou mighty God yearn, I yearn, to Thee.
!
My
To meet Thy majesty, Thy tranquil Another being in these arms I bear.
Baptize her beauty in benignant beams, Invest her with the freedom's perfect gift Of Thine illuminated and elect.
Ill
WORLDS OF MINISTRY
There
About
But
is
no peace, no beauty
in
low, relaxing trustfully resign thy gentle self. And I will bear thee hence to secret hills
life's
meadow
From
all
things
common,
To To
Across the threshold of thy glorious eyes I gaze and see thy soul.
Nor
Exclude me
a
not.
!
chosen priest
Paths of Zion
Send forth innumerable voices high From thy four quarters, multiply above
Thy And
solar pageants
Worshipful,
take
Thy
fair breast
All light, all beauty, like the face I love Exhales an efflorescence of thyself. Thy grandeur, depth and mastery. Her height, Thy deeps, thy vastness, seem as phases three Of one unfathom'd wonder. Her I see Who, distant in a city of darkling ways, Will tarry, prayers upholding, till I come. Here in the vigour of this morning wind I stand, self-poised, upon a peak of rock, While all thy glistering and gladsome pomp Of hasty tide about me swirls and swells ; While every shallow on the shingled shore
Is like a
with tidings of a mission'd man. the heart and centre of all things Ascends with revelation. Thou art nigh When in the haunted city of darkling ways
Who from
I
Speak
as
Before
my
vestal's shrine.
Grey eyes Immeasurable main of mighty soul There is no sea, no sky, no fruitful earth That is no lark which sings, no summer breeze That laves and censes it is thou in each
!
Absorb'd
stand.
Thou variously, inscrutably reveal'd And plunged for ever in a trance of love,
;
I lose myself, I melt, I merge in thee. 'Tis not the moon, with spiritual beams
Some
night-sea soothing
thou art
moon and
sun,
302
Flowers of Paradise
While in illimitable ocean thou Assumest other majesty and form.
thy lover in a lane at noon, Beneath some maple lays his languid limbs, And the broad, rumour-full, benignant leaves Give shadow-shelter in a torrid time.
is
in acacia
and
in
beech
And
Fan
drooping low
the providence of thy pure love Which closes round him. On thy lap he lies Thy heart the moss which pillows and thy breath
The
And
zephyrs, all leaf-messages thy voice, those dryadic roundelays and rhymes
IV
GREAT SACRAMENTS
One
Has
dainty, soft and fruitful shower of rain purged and clarified the fragrant air
On
this
God-favour'd evening,
!
late in
spring.
It shines as lucent as thy virgin brow, To every stir thou most worshipful Its cool, translucent particles respond
The
By tremulous emotions far prolong'd. seething murmurs of the shifting sea Melt in the pleasance of a mood of dreams The temper'd merriment and melody
Of
church-bells ringing in the distance seem benediction of thy beautiful voice Which lifts my soul into eternity.
303
Paths of Zion
There
falls a
Nor
God their beauty fills my life God bless his frenzy haunts the sky lark God bless its modulated tones God bless Have spell'd full often many a waste of waves And oft Astarte bound through formless nights
it shines with thine eyes' blue, nor grey light. bless the wonder of those waters deep ;
;
to
inner world.
bless the ripples of thy music, all nature lifting to love's mantic heights. High spiritual quests of life and thought God bless thee ever and in all thy ways
My
stand this night upon a lofty down The dreaming city by a dreaming sea Beneath me spreads, bewitch'd in dreaming Round me are solitude and wilderness, I call God's rain of benediction down
I
;
air
To
water
all
Descend, celestial and deiiic dew Rise, Eden-incense, and thy virtue sweet Diffuse around thee, as the clover fills These fields uplifted with its teeming scent.
And,
the darkness
mouth name
The stars stand close around, the trees incline From every quarter of the open world One mystic word Madonna softly breathes, With meanings foreign to the land or sea.
May the strong influence of wind-swept Of aromatic odours brought from far
Descending fill the shining veils of her. So made a porcelain vessel for the night's All-sacred myrrh and essences of nard
!
downs,
304
Flowers of Paradise
V
CHOIRS
The
MADE
VISIBLE
down
To
heliotrope
opal's pallid
Here too
in twilight-hush
as a soul expands Dilating gently By noble thought diffuse the tender light Of hallow'd human love. Descending dew
my
Lady's eyes,
distil
My
and moonlight, then in every leaf, In each light breath that stirs her magic sleep, Vaticinates about us, pouring forth
Pontifical consecrations. These in turn Enthrone my spirit, as its pulses beat By thee, most blessed while a virtue falls In broad vibrations, from the trembling beams,
;
Of dews
moon
aureoline.
An
unimaginable splendour fills My spirit with prophecy, and sight therein So in the floral future of the world
I
stand translated
in that sanctity
On
the
summit
far in soul
four-square city of a Salem new Stands high-erected, stands the House of God, VOL, I. u 305
The
Paths of Zion
Most
perfect Temple of Humanity. This is the bright and everlasting day Our Lord hath made ; it is the day of Christ.
Strike, harps of angels, harps of God, the Scald Strike, harps of kings; strike, lo Evohe
:
With
coming age
VI
TO
Blest be
Increase
this
ISLES
!
OF LIGHT
May
rain
undergrowth
!
and dew
Which after cooling showers has crept across From dark, rich downs that ring the country round
Blest too this sky of June, like April's seen Glory of sapphire blue, glory of cloud
!
:
it still
And
The
I
quiet spirit into trance ascends reach that world where all things dream'd If by sublimity and virtue they Can urge a claim on life. I seek therein That process, hidden in the psychic plane,
:
may be
Whereby
the beauty of a maid elect with the glory of essential light May Be inwardly emblazon'd ... I have found I know the secret path perfect way which the stream of spiritual life Through Flows down to re-create the hearts of men.
The
take thee hence ; I lead and lead thee on ; the desire, the will aspiration, Thou art no more of earth; us both. Uplift
306
Flowers of Paradise
The
troubled cosmos of created things Remotely gleams and glimmers. O the wings Which bear us now, that other dawn which breaks Sword-guarded Eden and those gardens bright, Those shadow-palaces, those haunted mosques
are in thee Irem, the wandering city Henceforth the high possession of my soul.
VII
thy spirit with the ocean's voice. As lone sea-caves are fiU'd or haunt thy brain With singing winds and clamour of joyful birds Thine eyes of trust and love In heaven afloat. with an ardent violet Transfigure
;
From
Now
To
the bright zenith's royal altitude. sunset's bloom of rose has tinged thy cheeks
The lanes and gardens, full of floral scents, Make thy white robes magnolian. Now thy
;
speech day-long melody of summer-months life's harp-harmonies Is modulated Have mellow'd all the movements of thy limbs. with thy hair unbound Behold, I face thee the magic of a moon at full ; To meet High praise of Dian, the beloved, the crown'd,
plenteous queen, has drawn her tawny light Now the choir of stars thy nimbus. Has tranquillised the waters of thy soul, Till thou art hush'd and hallow'd and subdued. Behind the veils of matter and of time. The secret beauty shines, and that within Thy gracious sacrament of outward form
The
To make
307
Paths of Zion
Makes answer, With parabolic
leaping toward the actual bursts of melody.
So shine that age when every maid and youth Shall equal glories wear, such crowns assume. And in the mystic city of the blest No sun shall set, nor moon shall need to rise. But there the Christ-light of the human soul In house and street abide
!
VIII
A
A
for us sounds nuptial hour of souls bridal shall be held therein ; mystic
shall lend her banners, eve her star
Red morn
And
The
There
shall rise
holy, holy sea ; splendour of lights Shall gather round us and shall clothe us then.
Which Which
White
Such splendour bursts e'en now O sky of grey, veils ineffable dyes and sundown gold, O lonely lanes and vistas in the wood,
:
with mystery Wan star, font of trembling light pure O deep, adorable, ecstatic hush, Which fills my soul with longing for the far.
twilight
fills
!
The
308
Flowers of Paradise
IX
TALISMANIC MAGIC
Heart's truth, the moon above a hidden Above those silent waters, merged in mist
sea
.
,
Uplifts the splendour of her perfect disc, With hay-time halo ring'd, and fills the sky
When
The
Turn thy speaking eyes on some lofty ridge, which faces North, wind-tide beats about us cool and fresh,
. .
.
New
The
life
Expands
faculties the length and breadth, and resources of this world, glory But when with patient, fond. I realise. on thee. dream-spell'd Discerning thoughts I gaze
my
Thy
As
God be praised, Who made thy And under sacramental veils abides
So
Bless'd Bless'd
all all
gentle soul,
Be thy true lover in thy beauty bless'd His heart's ideal taking shape in thee.
In thee attain'd.
the Voice
Amen.
309
WR^m
00 mucf) fails
tl}cn tfc;
tfjc
soul
infjen
UqU^
in fla0f)S
a^^Ic,
Si^Eto all
grrm
lS3]}at t{}n
Beoonli
tl)c
rticrs anti
(Eljnrcl)C3 rise
l)eigl)ts.
OSljo
tio
no
proiFer'ti
tljat tlic
graces
tiisniioto.
^nti seeing
Cs
^aplg
i^Fnters
follotos tl)at
on
intoniti offices of
praoer
cspite
Sl)all
tlje letter
anti its
gricbous cljain
antiHljere remain.
The Poor
Brother's
Mass-Book
OR A DEVOUT METHOD OF ASSISTING AT THE HOLY SACRIFICE FOR CHILDREN WHO ARE NOT OF THIS WORLD. ITEM: AN IMPLIED MANNER OF SERVING, FOR CLERKS OF THE HOLY ASSEMBLIES.
WHEN
PASSING
THE THRESHOLD OF
THE TEMPLE
The postulant
ministry, as one
enters the
who
outward Church, to partake of its accepts for the moment a second best, things which are supernal.
Greater Disillusio N
Behold we
stand from
us,
all
deceit apart
Nothing misleads
We
True
life
God through
all,
Having outgrown some sacraments and types But yet deferring to their ministry, As to the service of green leaves at noon
And
all
Odours
it
While men are seeking for truth with many clamours, may happen that God ope?is the door of the heart and
in.
comes
Mass-Book
WHEN TAKING
The Postulant assumes
ing the Voice and the
conformity, under obedience
SEAT
Word.
of the Beloved
The Voice
That
which we heard of old, and long to hear, once more, or, far and near, Speak Amidst the rushing winds reverberate In the sea's music, mother of thought profound And deepest feeling, let the tidings sound ; Most in thought's silent ways, early and late
in the floods
;
!
riot
less
the
House of God
is
So
the Presence
whether It
is
realised or not.
Ill
THE
The
FIRST RECOLLECTION
soul exhorts herself, because paths of advance in the several grades of the Lesser and Greater Mysteries are in a certain sense narrow, arid few enter the Gate which
Le Moyen de Parvenir
Straight
To
as the path which leads in distant days the large issues of the narrow gate, Be our life shaped in all its ways and aims. And let all high intent the heart upraise ; But do not bide till we can meet all claims, Or, with the chance of service, stand and wait
!
314
Prefatory Meditatio72
It is with the great matters of religion as it is with the business of life ; if we looked for time and opportunity, we should do but little in the latter, and if we tarried in the
other to increase worthiness, we should never go back to It might be written that we shall be worthy when God.
we
IV
A PREFATORY MEDITATION
light,
'The sun rises in the East to restore the blessing of dayand another sun, rising in the soul of man, brings
And
Through
Illumines
so
Onward
and the flesh but our Hfe's star
air,
Maintain their
still
within
the intellectual
moves,
to zeniths of the
mind
Necessary helps vouchsafed Aspiring. Our weakness strengthen most, O mighty sea, Thy vastness and thy voices, strength with strength And ye too, ye lonely roads, Enduing Ye thickets only by the fox and bird Frequented, and ye populous human haunts One whole gigantic heart, throbbing with life Ye also help in your own high degree But when these fail us, as our last resource, The House of God remains to take us in ; And if to hearts inhibited at times
Mass-Book
Place
Holy
Seem voided, know, the Master of the House, With signs of presence, shall at need invest
Both inward chancel and external nave.
We
who has
man
is
approaching God
obviously ?io desire thereof ; but we must hope that deep in his heart there may still be a latent capacity of that desire.
letters
of the
Name we
books
long to learn
Are found
Yet we
in sacred
with our eyes their outward sense discern itself, our saving grace, utter'd only in the Holy Place.
disinterest,
The atmosphere of the Divine Secret abides in a great and yet that secret is Clearest of all things.
316
jfudtca
Me^ Deus
VI
We
Thy And
have confess'd Thee since our days began, law discern'd in all creation's plan,
yet unprofitable servants
still
Remain, so distant from Thy holy hill, Conscious of nothing like the dreadful want And void within us full of rumours dark
Waiting
The
Thy
The youth
time.
of the soul
is is
the Ki?ig^s Presence, and the morni?ig^s joy and the Mass-
VII
man
asks to
We
And shew
the true
deathless flowers.
Thy Thy
high salvation in the soul. light and in Thy love make whole
The
tance
;
soul is sad
but this
is
THE CONFESSION
The Sanctum Sanctorum and wretched is he who waits
he has recourse
to
is
to
God.
Foundations of Victory
LITTLE while
in the
mind
;
to find
fill
the
The
I
false lights came and the false lights went did not tarry for these ; The dreadful sense of a heart unfit
Through
And
the
native earth
how
!
it,
If once, but once, I have sunk and said " " " The dream is or, Yield, soul done, Because alone the untainted heart
:
!
Wins crowns I work for Then, Hope, depart But 'twas up with the stricken head.
!
"
Still
318
The Indulgeiice
Therefore I trust that a soul on fire For weal has the wine-press trod,
And though my
sins upon either hand, In witness rising, against me stand, They shall waste not my heart's desire, Which out of them leaps to God.
As
time goes
;
on.,
we
it
walls of Salem
hut
should he
Eternal City
is
within.
IX
THE INDULGENCE
There are greater benedictions^ and like these the greater
evils are within., hut notwithstanding
that forgiveness can be always presupposed in virtue of that supernatural love which casts out fear., there is still the mal-ease of the soul in the peopled darkriess and the purlieus, where the com-
its
several trades.
Our hopes are Thine to Thee our ends converge And all of will within us, long transferr'd,
;
Waits on the
in
fiat
the silence ; speak in the storm of sound Speak From which, to reach Thy silence, we emerge
Here on
Speak
this
holy ground
on the verge Of all things manifest in things unseen In our longing we shall find no rest Speak. Until we know what all Thy portents mean.
in the Rites that bless
;
Thee
Speak
319
Mass-Book
:
With aching souls, we grieve the life of wrong Which has from Thy life sever'd us so long Take us, do with us as Thou wilt The sad mischances of our days forgive From those dark paths wherein we mate with Redeem us, Saviour teach us how to live.
;
;
:
guilt
secret consists.
WHEN THE
The search
is
PRIEST ASCENDS
TO THE
which
ALTAR
after
God
is
itself
a counsel of the search., hut the satisfaction of a craving impelled by the spur of necessity.
the strife and wearying contact with the great true thing. will that be such points the term of all
all
For the long disillusions and sharp sting ? But yes God save us its most distant touch
Gody
and
320
The Introit
XI
AUFER A NOBIS
Man
is
Purgation
LITTLE space of daylight and of gloom, pain and dim delight, and then the tomb. Whereat the whole is over and is gone Those scenes forget us where of old we toil'd Sad is it surely but the soul assoil'd Its path appointed takes, and still goes on. Now, therefore, where Thy Holy Place begins. Bid us, we pray Thee, pause, and purge our sins
Of
Let us seek
enter
to
remember that
we
must.
XII
THE INTROIT
It is the
concealment of
life.
God
An Opening
Open Thy
;
of the Gates
!
behold we open ours gates have destroy'd our earthworks, broken down All roofs and battlements our Babel towers Are rent to fragments. Give us entrance now Within the holy precincts of Thy town X VOL. I. 321
We
The
Pool' Brothe?-'' s
far
Mass-Book
;
We
enough from Thee apart, from Thy palace and Thy throne Long Let us behold Thy face, and teach us how The wondrous secret of the world is known By the ineffable glory of Thy crown
have been
exiled
And
sweetness.
in
the
life
eternal of
Thy
heart.
XIII
Path because
it
is
'pleasant.,
hut
is
unbending road, sudden gorges, and a load hill-tops, Of sadness through the solitary track One comfort only to our own abode The one way back And since we needs must reach Thee, why and how Esteeming little, shew us mercy, Thou
Bleak
NARROW
gate, a straight,
It is not
322
The
Collect
XIV
GLORIA IN EXCELSIS
The
'places of -peace
The Secret
Peace
;
of Success
in high places on the peaks supreme, Far over passion's mists, deep peace of love Light of true light, the glory and the gleam ; Far over troubled sleep, what worlds of dream Give space for souls yes, there is room above
;
Sleep naturally passes hito drearn, but there repose i^i which dream is exalted i?ito vision ;
itsli?iductio?i
is
is
a certain
this at
and
XV
THE COLLECT
The
consolation which carries us along
is
that, seeing
Consummation
not frustration of our good intent, fear the feeble working of our wills Fail'd never yet the soul which, seeking, went. Far as soul could, upon the great ascent What by the Word Divine say, God is meant
Fear
But
He
Do
that fulfils
them deceive us
XVI
THE SUBSTITUTED
The way
oj
EPISTLE
way
oj sorrow.
compassion
is also
the
Ascetic Life
The
Is
end of self-denial
not to rack the
flesh,
Of
Adding
It is
How
must
;
seek,
And
Must look
Not
Yet must we
strive,
provided
;
To
To
The
lesser
purpose round us
;
in
still
324
unfolds her treasures ; but does not stay O'er secret parts of human hearts It yearns, but moves away.
;
Perchance
its
We
If
goal awaits
it
see
we but knew, our pains were few Ah, light our task would be
!
Task, do
say
What
spirit
pause on things of earth. Did bright and clear that star appear Whence all our stars draw birth ?
Would
To
act as if with
knowledge
Is
And
One
certain only
live
to find
Earth cannot give for this to Dares not the man of mind.
And
His great
less,
no bar
bless.
who
labour
And God
l^he
who
fast,
Path of the Cross is the Path of the Mystical Rose, Rose and Cross are joined. That which they form though ceases to he a -path of sorrow. together
325
XVII
THE GRADUAL
Great are the heights
cohorts of
zuitftesses
and, great also are the deefs ; the are numberless ; but beyond all is the
and
to this
we
power and
Benison
Thou Who
Before
all
Whom
we
bless,
hereby
men, I rise and testify That by Thy grace alone I look to live That Thy dear gifts above the crowns of earth Are precious and are mine by right of birth.
;
So here
freely take, as
Thou
dost give.
There is a certain confusion of thought concerning the Divine complacency in the dedication of our human love.
in the spheres that we seek for, it is not entirely a question of complacency, but of the natural con]unction of meant for one things which from the- beginniyig were another.
Even
XVIII
it is
impossible
to
Come,
let us
326
meet the messenger divine, serene in some uplifted place. Standing On which the stars shed influence, whereon Do moon and sun concur. His hands shall hold
yet shall
We
The shining stone inscribed with secret words, Which hallow lips for prophecy and give
Not only
tidings true but sense thereof.
Man is native to the heights^ and the burden of his normal life is a difficulty of respiration in the dee-ps to which he does not belong by his origin.
XIX
THE
FIRST GOSPEL
It is therefore only on the moujitains that the feet of the messenger are beautiful when he brings glad tidings near.
On the Way
to Jerusalem
splendours of the life above life of earth might dawn on us. With shafts of sacred light and two-edged beams Refracted up and down from rocks and peaks Of spiritual precipice, to rend
IF the
This turbid
This temple's
veil, this
temple built by
flesh
;
To flesh for the soul's bondage and dark night And might the soul, among the dateless hills,
Some path
discern, that
follow'd
;
till it
ends
son,
327
Mass-Book
How
And
far, across life's turbid, unanneal'd questing waters from the murk and waste, Where upas vapours breathe we hail thee now,
And thy gospel bells Proclaim new heights, where souls, redeem'd by God, Shall gaze abroad, commanding life and time, And calm in conscious strength the crown await.
Salem
is
on the mountain
to-p
because
it is
a spiritual
city.
XX
THE CREDO
ulso
those
Inexpressible
Now,
let
us here
in
in secret, as if
drawn
it
Together
To welcome
And
words
some holy
place apart
Declare the hidden matter heart to heart it eludes the however high, Nay, thought,
still fail
dawn,
:
testify.
And
Do Thou
Thou knowest when Master, we came from Thee unto Thee return the time and mode Are in Thy hands. There is a reason why. And this we feel. Keep clear, we pray, the road Apart from Thee nothing can satisfy Lead, and still lead the trembling hearts of men. This is our faith in Thee, our strong defence
; ;
: :
fulfil
it
in experience
328
The Offertory
is one issue for everything and one can be judged does not interfere with the other fact that there is more than one answer to most
The fact
that there
it
test
by which alone
We and
conti7iue,
all
therefore,
to
say
that follows
thereafter
Credo with
in
unum Deum
a heart of holy
aspiration.
XXI
THE OFFERTORY
It is a little thijig to renounce extrinsic goods, having renounced ourselves already, the better to attain ourselves.
True
Possessions
does he gain who much dispenses; want him not; a constant stream of wealth Is round him drawn. From him who meanly hoards His own, is true wealth taken. What in one Centres alone is lost, and every gift Not in the man inherent whether brought
Shall reach
Much
From God
directly
Returns to the dispenser we attain All things in giving and conceding them.
which are of real value we have never but only with those tokens which are of part, temporal convenience, some of which become encumbrances and even burdens.
the things
to
With
been asked
329
Mass-Book
XXII
THE OBLATION
a reason why silence envelopes us zvithin, notzoithstandifig the clamours that are zvithout ; yet the
There
is
expression of the
higher soul
us.
is
and
this is
imposed upon
Expression
All
that once
we meant
to say,
Deep within the heart of each, Tell me, pray, Rests unutter'd.
When
shall
man have
soul.
overcharged.
!
Is, in spite
Deeper sinks the depth within. All horizons melt from sight, Till life's mighty waters win
Union with
the infinite.
possession
rest
so shall be
The
The need
of expression arises from the law of concealhut this law is essential and inheres., rather than is ment^ For the same reason the burden of sin is prescribed.
assumed.,
is light.
but
the yoke
of grace
is
native
and
so
also
330
lit
Spiritu Hmnilitatis
XXIII
direct
the circumference to the centre may he far ^ but the The union of elements is in to the end.
man
goes on.
Thou Only
Eternal
When Thou
And
Our
quicken'd that which lieth cold and dead, like this mystic bread Place on Thine Altar to Thy most healthful service given ; hearts,
And pour Thy spirit, as supernal wine. On the inconstant waters of our soul Make us partakers of Thy substance thus And in such mode shalt Thou partake of us, Our heart united to Thy sacred heart And by Thy saving virtue so made whole,
!
Our
life shall
life
Thy
make heaven
Lord of Heaven
Vessels of Election
The
heart
is
Thou
didst require
Received them.
is turn'd to Thee them at our hands Thou hast At the steps of Thy White Throne
:
Mass-Book
placed them, with a just and holy awe That they could serve Thy purpose. Kings below, To Thee, the King of all, that which we are
Is offer'd.
We
And uncondition'd giving Of his end Thou hast made each the arbiter it lies
;
Between
And The
his hands, that he may make so all purpose of his world fulfil.
it
Thine,
We
Of
With every
Count
hold, and yield them to Thy mastership. therefore this the spirit and the term
contrite souls to be
With
Yet
need for us are masters still, and abjectness Can ever lapse, but great in Thee through Must issue forth triumphant in the end
Thy
Nor
into misery
all
It is not a matter of importance that the victory should be ultimately with ourselves, but the great ends must -prevail, and they can prevail only in us.
XXV
IN
THE
It
is
BLESSING OF BREAD
God
in
AND WINE
elements.
possible to receive
many
Venite
Weary
of walking
in
is in many kinds, but the true act of in the inmost heart. only
The Incensing of
the
Altar
XXVI
manna
in
Probation
For
Of many elements combined, we plead Thy great blessing to assuage our need
In this wide world of dreams
!
God
We
grant that, issuing at last from these. shall unlock, with certain secret keys, Life's inmost and far curving galleries,
Where
The
work of
inspiration.
XXVII
Interdiction
The
To
Then dry days follow for a space, That learners may their souls dispose
walk
at
Mass-Book
Say therefore not that grace is dead. Say not that inspiration's fount,
Henceforth to flow
Is seal'd
:
inhibited,
up
in the sacred
mount
Say rather silence full and rich In its still depths prepares the ground For other wells of mercy, which
In later torrents shall abound
!
The soundings
the senses.
plummets of
XXVIII
ACCENDAT
It
does'-lnot'l sigfiify
IN NOBIS
but
it
The Unities
Diverse our
Much
passions, yet but one desire smoke, much smouldering, one cleansing
; ;
fire
Concerns unnumber'd which are little blest, Only one rest. One travail that is worthy of the hire This labour, that heart's burning and the dumb,
:
Unspoken longing for the King to come And His great kingdom to be manifest
Most
of us perhaps can do little to promote its advent in the world, but we can cherish it secretly in the heart.
334
Suscipe^ Sa7tcta
Triniias
XXIX
BEFORE THE LAV ABO
It
is zuell to to
thing
guilty
go
zvash zuith the innocent^ hut it is a greater through the cleansing fires zvhich furge the
from
their sins.
Misfits
To
'Tis scarcely true that souls come naked take abode up in this earthly town,
down
:
Or naked
We
pass
all
enter slipshod and with clothes awry, And we take with us much that by and by
May
aside.
We We
Cleanse therefore that which round about us clings, pray Thee, Master ; ere Thy sacred halls enter, strip from us redundant things And meetly clothe us in pontificals
!
The House
of
God
is
the
XXX
SUSCIPE,
The
first
SANCTA TRINITAS
is to
Journeys
in
And
in, and a little space for sleep, then a space more narrow for repose that is more deep;
335
find their
God.
We
offer
up
made
:
All other bonds our wills at least evade But do Thou give us of Thyself, and thus clean oblation shall be made by us Thou dost not need our offerings, but we Transmuting need, to make us gold for Thee.
The
time or space.
XXXI
SECRETA
So long as zue are exiled
scarcely
escape
sin.
Restoration
I
CAME
I left
put off
And
I
at Thy bidding white robes and shining crown my came into this world for love of Thee.
;
Thee
have lived in the grey light for love of Thee, In mean and darken'd houses The scarlet fruits of knowledge and of sin Have stain'd me with their juice for love of Thee.
:
From Thee so sadly parted ; could not choose but put away my sin And purge and scourge those stains for love of Thee.
I
Sursum Corda
My
soul
is
Thee,
Nothing can ease or fill me Restore me, past the frozen baths of death, crown and robes, desired for love of Thee
My
And
take
me
to
But Thou must need me since I need Thee so, for love of Thee Crying through day and night
My
into rest, for a of the dove would not carry us bears the same relation to progress that a sandbird^s flight castle bears to Mo7it Salvatch in the Pyrenees.
The wings
XXXII
SURSUM CORDA
T^he exaltation of the heart takes place after gations.
many pur-
Secret Song
SAD voice, singing close at hand. Thy words we may not understand But strangely full and sweet art thou And thou dost soothe, we know not how. Perchance thy low refrain reveals, In sorrow's deeps, the well which heals.
!
the illugreat pity must surge for ever in the soul of man towards all motions and yearnings of 'Nature, so full of impassioned endeavour, so full of the sense of loss
minated
and
inability.
VOL.
I.
337
XXXIII
THE PREFACE
Nature
itself is
made
in our
own
likeness.
Mirrors of Manhood
Man's
And
soul itself beholds in every glass its own speech discerns in every tone
will be
And
equally
is
and was
or stone.
in star
Man
If
parable to every stream ; " running brooks are books, he writes, he reads If stones are sermons, he provides their theme,
gives "
its
And
with himself
in these
he speaks, he pleads.
No
tongue but his was ever heard Still Nature stood till he, an exile, came. Bringing dim echoes of an older word And fragments of a now unutter'd name.
living
;
For though he speaks and speech imparts to all, That which he would he cannot hear or say,
And
pale reflections of his own long call Tortures, to draw their inward sense to day.
fills
he cries Perchance the still profundities explain That which exceeds all words, however wise.
his
And down
own
338
The Canon
speech withdrawn from things outside, And all resounding caverns hush'd within, That which the clamours from his soul divide
Perchance
his
May
It
one.
vigil,
is
to
a long watch
it is also
a sure
The powers and the glories are with us in the great and the darkness of the night intervening is no ground
XXXIV
THE CANON
All the greater laws are made in the course of our advancement.
Facilis Ascensus
is the canon of the King's true law, which we know it is indeed the King's ? By Ah, could we find it faithful, free from flaw Clear would be all which once we dimly saw
What
And
The
confused
official interpretatio7is
voices
of great
winds surging
about
secret
sanctuary.
339
Mass-Book
XXXV
COMMEMORATION OF THE LIVING
There
is
is
a great
'past
behind
us^
in front.
Nunc Dimittis
How
perfect
is
the peace of
him
gains
high course outrun ; Who looking back on his past track Can proudly lift his head And truly claim for every aim
Of some
This
is
consummated.
and our seeming^ we have spite of our dreaming touch the reality in this life^ because the sacrabegun mental body of man is the sum of all physical perfection which it is possible for us here to conceive.
In
to
XXXVI
From
the
first
With many
All
me
fed
Beyond those
which
bless
;
men
with manna
wilderness
340
The
Consecratio7i a7id
Kiev aHon
To
take with spiritual lips, Thou didst soul sustain, its angel-peers amidst. Then at Thy board I sat, all sane and whole, Clothed in the proper garment of my soul ;
My
Then
A A
in the liturgies and rites which make rapture in presence, did I take
Thy
part allotted, and their calls fulfil With a most clear conception of Thy will.
But
after, for
high palace-gates and halls sent down And precincts fair of Thine eternal town I know not why, who had not tired of Thee
And And
Far
Thy
ministry.
eyes' light, with such graces lent, But I went. efficacious. Sufficing, since that time, which is earth's time outside,
Under Thine
paths might from Thy throne divide, Deep might be which I plunged in Conduits and cesspools of the House of Sin
as
my
as the gulfs
In the strange tavern and the stranger's bed, I do remember still Thy wine and bread.
Thus having
So that
I
cannot look up to. Thy gate ; Having withal too dim and sad an eye To see the splendour of that chancelry. Where, unto those who serve and those who Justice or love Thou dost administer I have been long content Thy hands to bless
;
:
err,
For any manna in the wilderness But, though all gifts within Thy hands are good, My soul now turns and loathes the lighter food
341
And
My
And
meat me, crying, at Thy board to eat ; brings But, since all bridal garments here I lack, I call on Thee to give those vestments back Wherein I served in such uplifted state
Still
was put forth from Thy palace-gate through all straits I keep my claim on them And the bright shining of my diadem.
Ere
Perchance
I fell
fault
Yet am
temple-vault Perhaps, for Thine own purpose, Thou hast seen Fit to reduce me from my primal mien But be my guilt in Thine eyes less or more Now matters not I pray Restore, restore And having given, as Thou needs must give, To one who naked can no longer live. The proper garments of the soul, I know That to Thy banquet hall I then shall go. Saying: "High Master, I have fasted long; Give me man's meat and wine of vintage strong." Whereat, with fitting benison and grace, They shall set down true bread before my place
:
native to
Thy
And
to
my
Thy
Therefore, by all who hear these high words said In the King's sense be they interpreted.
can always he sure of our commefitaries, short as they fall of -perfection, by uniting their intention with God.
We
342
The Commemoration of
the
Dead
XXXVII
Restoration
As by his own fireside, in his own man slips gently into sleep, and
up awake once more
in his
chair,
there
Starts
own room.
:
Recalling all things in the glow and gloom So when the draught of death in sleep he takes, Perchance all suddenly the man awakes
not
known
is
we have forgotten.
IBID.
We
are so
almost im-possible
that
it
seems
the Elegiac
Manner
crisps and dries the yellow'd leaf, since sad reapers brought the harvest in Long All which dejects us or exalts is brief
Now Autumn
Death
in life's
mask, shall
life in
death's begin
343
And, vacant
Trite epitaphs
"Too good on earth stay" Did peace make sweet end Who knows? Implora face Turn away
to
Let fools
inscribe.
his
Convention tolls its bell with mournful sound, Convention plumes the hearse which bears the Convention cries that hearts in hallow'd ground Embalm remembrances that ne'er decay.
clay,
Or that Some
in chapels
little
memory burns
And
If
follies Down the silent halls the long avenues that soul has pass'd ;
!
To
other meetings
what
refrain
from
if this
useless calls
were
last
.?
for all such end to Content, so he bear that, to bear your rood.
We
great reservation must be taken into the grade ne plus ultra of death.
344
l^he
Commemoration of
the
Dead
IBID.
'Those
to the
before us are so
much
the nearer
Union.
To Other Ends
forth no more where bindweeds creep About thy lattice bars, And move no more where waters sweep
Look
Entranced by musing
stars
Thy
peace be full, thy rest be deep, Nev/ light enrich thine eyes ;
:
is dark on ours who weep, Sweet Life, fill other skies That which God join'd to make thy wonder. For Heaven's gain, thus He puts asunder.
While night
The great
IBID.
We
spoils.
look at the
to
return
its
Dies Venit
Now
heralds, passing through desponding Hades, Proclaim " Sahete, O my Lords and Ladies Here ends the penance, here unbars the prison
:
He
is
risen
"
The Hades
world, which
into
keeps
many
spirits
345
Mass-Book
The Mystery of the that are ostensibly sharing our exile. zvhich has been slain from the Passion and of that Lamb
foundation of things
We
Jerusalem
therein.
one of the mysteries of the unseen. do not doubt that Christ died and rose., but the material and the conventional holy fields have no heritage
is
The
true
Golgotha and Calvary are not seen nor yet is the rock-hezun Sepulchre or the
XXXVIII
NOBIS
The
bridges.
QUOQUE PECCATORIBUS
zuork
greatest
in the zuorld
is
that of building
De Profundis
Though
Yet
I
oft I have fallen by the way, Mother mine, have not turn'd my face aside from Thee ; And Father, loving Father, in the world that is Thine white light of glory I have look'd to see. Thy
Take me
I am weary, I beseech Thee, And I do not dread the gulfs or wastes between Lift me upward, being merciful, to reach Thee,
If
But even
mercy.
346
Pater Noster
XXXIX
PATER NOSTER
The invocation of the ravishment.
Kingdom
is also
the invocation of
The Kingdom
O O O O
Salem, City on the mountain-top promised land of honey and of milk Aden, Eden, land of holy dream
! ! !
With all its gardens girt, House of God Far shines the mystic City of the Soul, City of Dream, City of our Desire, And all who look thereon do evermore Carry strange longings in their haunted eyes.
prophetic trees the long days visionary voices And nights enchanting of thy streams, thy birds purple dreamland, infinite ecstasy
floral
!
O O O
emblems
The food
is also
347
XL
LIBERA NOS, QUAESUMUS
When man
comes.
enters into the
Holy Place,
the
Kingdom
Fellowship
When
When
When
darkness
falls
upon the
life
of mind
our need we stand, uncompanion'd One is still with us in the shrouded land Our own soul with us in the solitude. Set therefore free the soul and let her cease
is
in
He who
is
never alone.
XLI
AGNUS DEI
Both the emissary and the imputation are in one sense
the symbolical embroideries of pontifical vestments.
Presages
On common
Has man
omens long
in tale
and song,
348
Domine yesu
And
But His
to the
Christe
still
;
under thin disguise they hold him body and its varied need and presages alone give heed, signs Leaving those deeper symbols all unread
menaced by surpassing ill. Fear not malignant stars which may control The outward fortunes fear those stars within
is
;
Which The
say soul
The
soul
is
is
dead.
Which on the wide horizon of the soul With baleful rays illume the night of
sin.
But that dread most which lets our evil plight Restrain the clamour after all God's light Whate'er I am, whatever yet may be, Master of all, I keep the quest of Thee. Save me from these old stains I care not how Then one thing more I need but that is Thou
;
XLII
in things below, when the King is be dead, our cry should he : Long live the King !
EUCHARISTICA
Poor,
foolish penitent,
He
lives
;
:
Take comfort
He
Thou
Beyond
hast received
Him
in
thy sacrament.
fields of faith.
349
Mass-Book
Misdirection
We
We
have falter'd
in the
Who
way
set us first to
walk
in the true
way
have palter'd with the truth which they expected should set so high before us, And the banners that are o'er us Are the ensigns of a nation gone astray.
We
This notwithstanding.,
all
roads
may
lead
to
the spiritual
XLIV
ITE, MISSA
EST
way
is long,
It does not really signify that the that which leads home.
if it is
Stars of Empire
From
At many
Halts
by the way to
feast,
Resumes her load and painful progress makes Back to the East.
and without
title
only by a
finished.
350
XLV
Wisdom
with
its
trumpet word
As
seashore
;
pages
When
What
to-day,
remain to say ? One thing look'd for one unheard Only that unutter'd word, Echoes of the sense of which All our spoken words enrich. And shall yet, with clarion call, Alter and transmute them all.
It
is
itself rites.
a mystery,
2S^
Mass-Book
XLVI
DEO GRATIAS
There
is
is
weariness
hut so long as
we
go forward,
Gratias Agimus
The
We
It is
Thy peace is the place of a perfect light. have thank'd Thee, O Lord, in the night For the night and the splendid day meet in the depth of the darkness and meet on the
place of
:
shining height. But oh for that place of Thy peace, For the glory which does not cease And the star which fades not away.
Grant, at the end of all, we may give Thee our thanks as we enter The palace of perfect union which shines in Thy light at the centre.
Et nox
:>S'^
Valedictory Aspiration
XLVII
A VALEDICTORY ASPIRATION
I.et us fray, in fine, for those truly sacred offices which are not in reality conferred by any right of succession, but do at times impose themselves.
Of Priestcraft
Could God have given me my desire, Or if God would grant it now and here, One boon, I wot,
As
Should wreathe my lot is wreathed by a fire Fair aim, high purpose, but far,
the star
fear
would put
my making
of songs aside
what can't be said Vain it should be mine And The bread and wine. By mighty mass-words deified, To change in substance from wine and bread.
strife to utter
And
Or
then
in
little
With
a soul contrite.
altar's
From
I
height
angels' meat.
353
Mass-Book
yet,
is
mine
They shadow
Holy and grand though the Church may be, The types it mixes with things foreshewn.
see,
And, symbols
unknown.
Yet may I hope, is it over bold } Somehow, somewhere it shall come to pass, While I still live, That my King shall give To me, like Lancelot, Knight of old, Grace, and a twelvemonth to sing my Mass.
END OF VOL.
Printed by
at Paul's
This book
is
JUL
11
^juW^i^n
THE
rTRT?Al>V
AA
,J